Method and apparatus for transmitting and downloading setup information

• US 20030213001A1
• Filed: 02/18/2003
• Published: 11/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/1994
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Index Systems Incorporated (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Index Systems Incorporated (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Chang, Allen, Kwoh, Daniel S., Yuen, Henry C.
• Application Number:
  US10/368,305
• Publication Number:
  US 20030213001A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/136
• 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 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 Accessing a communication channel
• 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 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4823 using a channel name
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6547 comprising parameters, e.g. for client setup
• 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 5/45 Picture in picture , e.g. displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/50 Tuning indicators; Automatic tuning control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/088 the inserted signal being digital
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0884 for the transmission of additional display-information, e.g. menu for programme or channel selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0887 for the transmission of programme or channel identifying signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/10 Adaptations for transmission by electrical cable H04N7/12 takes precedence
• 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

Abstract

Multiple channel maps are embedded in a television transmission and the appropriate channel corresponding to the particular television service used by the viewer is downloaded for use with the television receiver. Each channel map is accompanied by a channel map identifier which identifies the source of the television transmission and a geographic identifier. The source of a television transmission is automatically detected by monitoring the radio-frequency spectrum allocations of telecast stations. The geographic area identifier is determined by comparison with a user inputted geographic area identifier. The channel map having a channel map identifier corresponding to the detected television transmission source and the user inputted geographic area identifier is downloaded and stored for future use.

Claims

1. An apparatus for detecting the source of a television transmission, said television transmission including a plurality of television stations, each television station being allocated to a different channel of a radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission, the apparatus, comprising:

a tuner for passing a selected channel of the television transmission, said tuner having a control input for selecting the channel;

a detector for detecting whether one of the television stations has been allocated to the selected channel and generating an output representative of said detection; and

a microcontroller having an output coupled to the control input of the tuner for commanding the tuner to select at least one of said channels, said microcontroller including means for determining the source of the television signal based on the detector output for each of the channels selected.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each television station transmits a video signal including a sync pulse, and wherein said detector detects whether one of the television stations has been allocated to the selected channel based on the stability of the sync pulse.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a sync pulse for extracting the sync pulse from the video signal, and wherein said detector detects whether one of the television stations has been allocated to the selected channel based on the stability of the extracted sync pulse.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said detector comprises a one-shot responsive to the extracted sync pulse.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the sync pulse is a horizontal sync pulse.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the microcontroller output is a function of the detector output.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the television transmission is an over-the-air broadcast or a cable signal.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the microcontroller output commands the tuner to select an initial channel, and wherein said determining means identifies the television transmission as either the cable signal or the over-the-air broadcast based on whether one of the television stations has been allocated to the initial channel.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said determining means identifies the television transmission as the cable signal if one of the television stations has been allocated to the initial channel, and identifies the television transmission as the over-the-air broadcast if one of the television stations has not been allocated to the initial channel.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the microcontroller output commands the tuner to scan a portion of the radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission in response to an identification by the determining means that the television transmission is the cable signal.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the cable signal is a cable ready signal or a cable box signal.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the microcontroller includes means for accumulating the number of the television stations detected by the detector as the tuner is scanned through said portion of the radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission, and wherein said determining means identifies the cable signal as either the cable ready signal or the cable box signal based on the number of television stations accumulated.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the determining means identifies the cable signal as the cable ready signal if the number of television stations accumulated exceed six, and identifies the cable signal as the cable box signal if the number of television stations accumulated does not exceed six.

14. An apparatus for detecting the source of a television transmission, said television transmission including a plurality of television stations, each television station being allocated to a different channel of a radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission, the apparatus comprising a microcontroller for sampling a portion of the radio-frequency spectrum, and determining the source of the television transmission based on the television station allocations in said portion of the radio-frequency spectrum.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the television transmission is an over-the-air broadcast or a cable signal.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the microcontroller selects an initial channel of said portion of the radio-frequency spectrum and determines that the television transmission is either the cable signal or the over-the-air broadcast based on whether one of the television stations has been allocated to the initial channel.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the microcontroller determines that the television transmission is the cable signal if one of the television stations has been allocated to the initial channel, and determines that the television transmission is the over-the-air broadcast if one of the television stations has not been allocated to the initial channel.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the microcontroller scans the portion of the radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission in response to a determination by the microcontroller that the television transmission is the cable signal.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the cable signal is a cable ready signal or a cable box signal.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the microcontroller accumulates the number of the television stations allocated to said portion of the radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission, and determines whether the cable signal is either the cable ready signal or the cable box signal based on the number of television stations accumulated.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the microcontroller determines that the cable signal is the cable ready signal if the number of television stations accumulated exceed six, and determines that the cable signal is the cable box signal if the number of television stations accumulated does not exceed six.

22. A method for determining the source of a television transmission, said television transmission including a plurality of television stations, each television station being allocated to a different channel of a radio-frequency spectrum of the television transmission, comprising the steps of:

tuning an initial channel of the television transmission; and

determining whether the television transmission is an over-the-air broadcast or a cable signal based on whether one of the television stations has been allocated to the initial channel.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the determining step comprises the step of determining that the television transmission is the cable signal if one of the television stations has been allocated to the initial channel, and determining that the television transmission is the over-the-air broadcast if one of the television stations has not been allocated to the initial channel.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising the steps of scanning a portion of the radio-frequency spectrum in response to a determination that the television transmission is the cable signal, and detecting whether one of the television stations is allocated to each of the channels scanned in said portion of the radio-frequency spectrum.

25. The method of claim 24 further comprising the step of accumulating the number of the television stations detected in said portion of the radio-frequency spectrum scanned.

26. The method of claim 25 further comprising the step of deciding whether the television transmission is a cable ready signal or a cable box signal based on the number of the television stations accumulated.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the deciding step transmission is the cable ready signal when the number of television stations accumulated exceed six, and deciding that the television transmission is the cable box signal when the number of television stations accumulated does not exceed six.

28. An apparatus for generating a channel map from data embedded in a television transmission, said television transmission comprising a plurality of channels and wherein said data is transmitted on at least one of said channels, said data corresponding to a plurality of channel maps and each channel map having a channel map identifier associated therewith, comprising:

a tuner for outputting a selected channel of the television transmission, said tuner having a control input for selecting the channel; and

a microcontroller having an output coupled to the control input of the tuner for commanding the tuner to scan at least one of the selected channels and lock on a channel having said data, said microcontroller including means for determining a channel map identifier based on a geographic location of the apparatus, and means for extracting from said locked channel a channel map corresponding to the determined channel map identifier.

29. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein the data is transmitted in a VBI of the television transmission, and further comprising a VBI decoder for extracting the data in the VBI from the channel outputted by the tuner, and coupling the data to said microcontroller.

30. The apparatus of claim 28 further comprising a remote control unit for entering the geographic location of the apparatus into said microcontroller.

31. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein each of the channel maps in the television transmission comprises a map of each of the television channels with a corresponding reference channel.

32. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein the data further comprises a source map of each of the reference channels with a corresponding television station, each source map have a host identifier associated therewith, the host identifier corresponding to a second geographic area of said apparatus, and wherein the determining means of said microcontroller further determines a host identifier based on the second geographic location of the apparatus, and wherein the extracting means further extracts a source map corresponding to the determined host identifier.

33. The apparatus of claim 32 wherein said microcontroller further comprises means for merging the source map with the channel map so that each of the television stations corresponds a television channel.

34. A method for creating a channel map for a television receiver comprising the steps of:

broadcasting a television transmission comprising a plurality of channels, said television transmission having data comprising a plurality of channel maps, each channel map having a channel map identifier associated therewith;

determining a channel map identifier applicable to the television receiver based on a geographic area in which the television receiver is located; and

extracting a channel map associated with the determined channel map identifier.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein the determining step further comprises the step of entering into the television receiver the geographic area corresponding to the geographic area in which the television receiver is located.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the extracting step further comprises the step of scanning the channels of the television transmission to locate the channel map identifier corresponding to the geographic area entered into the television receiver.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein said broadcasting step further comprises broadcasting the channel maps wherein each of the channel map comprises mapping between the television channel and a corresponding reference channel.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein said broadcasting step further comprises broadcasting a plurality of source maps, each source map comprising a map of each of the television stations to the corresponding reference channel, and having a host identifier associated therewith, each host identifier corresponding to a second geographic area.

39. The method of claim 38 further comprising the step of determining the host identifier applicable to the television receiver based on the second geographic area, and extracting a source map associated with the determined host identifier.

40. The method of claim 39 further comprising the step of merging the extracted source map with the extracted channel map so that each of the television stations corresponds a television channel.

41. The method of claim 34 wherein the broadcasting step further comprises broadcasting a standard time, and further comprising the step of adjusting the standard time to one of a plurality of time zones.