Method and apparatus for providing dynamic pricing services for an interactive information distribution system
First Claim
1. In an interactive information distribution system containing service provider equipment and subscriber equipment that is interconnected by a communications network, a method of providing a subscription-on-demand service for an interactive information distribution system comprising the steps of:
- packaging a number of on-demand programs into a programming packages; and
enabling a subscriber to access any on-demand program within a subscribed programming package on an on-demand basis.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for providing subscription-on-demand (SOD) services for a interactive information distribution system, where a consumer may subscribe to packages of on-demand programs for a single price and view the programs in the subscribed package at any time for no additional cost. The apparatus and method are embodied in a combination of software, which provides a so called navigator, and hardware, including a subscriber terminal that provides certain functionality for the navigator and service provider equipment that supports the functionality of the terminal. As such, graphical user interface functionality is distributed between the service provider equipment and subscriber equipment (subscriber terminal). Such distribution provides an enjoyable, real time interactive process for accessing SOD services that allows the subscriber to rapidly identify and access a subscription service. In addition, a non-subscriber of a particular service is quickly identified and provided the opportunity to, through the use of a graphical user interface, subscribe to the programming provided by the system.
58 Citations
24 Claims
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1. In an interactive information distribution system containing service provider equipment and subscriber equipment that is interconnected by a communications network, a method of providing a subscription-on-demand service for an interactive information distribution system comprising the steps of:
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packaging a number of on-demand programs into a programming packages; and
enabling a subscriber to access any on-demand program within a subscribed programming package on an on-demand basis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. In an interactive information distribution system containing service provider equipment and subscriber equipment that is interconnected by a communications network, a method of providing a subscription-on-demand service for an interactive information distribution system comprising the steps of:
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sending from said service provider equipment to said subscriber equipment a first menu applet;
decoding and executing said first menu applet within said subscriber equipment to display a first interactive graphical user interface;
selecting, through manipulation of the first interactive graphical user interface, a subscription option;
sending a selection signal indicative of said selected subscription option from said subscriber equipment to said service provider equipment;
determining, within said service provider equipment, if the subscriber is a current subscriber to said service identified by said selection signal;
if the subscriber is said current subscriber, sending a second menu applet from said subscriber equipment to said service provider equipment;
decoding and executing said second menu applet within said subscriber equipment to display a second interactive user interface through which the subscriber can select a subscription program for viewing;
if said subscriber is not said current subscriber, sending a third menu applet from said subscriber equipment to said service provider equipment; and
decoding and executing said third menu applet within said subscriber equipment to display a third interactive user interface through which the subscriber can become a subscriber to the selected service. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of providing a subscription-on-demand service for an interactive information distribution system comprising the steps of:
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providing a programming selection menu through which a subscriber selects programming for a personal subscription-on-demand service;
selecting programming to define said personal subscription-on-demand service;
storing programming identification codes associated with said selected programming and a subscriber identification number;
enabling said subscriber, through use of said subscriber identification number, to access said personal subscription-on-demand service by paying a single predefined price for access to the programming identified by the programming identification codes for a predefined period. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. Apparatus for providing subscription-on-demand services within an interactive information distribution system comprising:
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service provider equipment containing an information server and a video session manager;
subscriber equipment containing a subscriber terminal and a display unit, where the service provider equipment is connected to the subscriber equipment by a communications network; and
said video session manager sends a plurality of executable menu applets to said subscriber terminal, said terminal executes each of said menu applets to generate interactive graphical user interface displays through which a subscriber selects a service;
the subscriber terminal sends a service request to said session manager for processing;
if the subscriber is said current subscriber of the selected service, the subscriber can select a subscription program for viewing;
if said subscriber is not said current subscriber, the subscriber can become a subscriber to the selected service. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. In an interactive information distribution system containing service provider equipment and subscriber equipment that is interconnected by a communications network, a method of providing dynamic pricing for information that is supplied by the interactive information distribution system comprising the steps of:
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selecting information through interaction with said subscriber equipment, where the information is being requested for delivery from the service provider equipment to the subscriber equipment;
transmitting the information selection to said service provider equipment;
determining, within said service provider equipment, whether the subscriber equipment that has requested the information is eligible for a discount price with respect to the selected information;
if eligible, then sending a discount price quote to the subscriber equipment for display to the subscriber;
otherwise, sending an a la carte price quote to the subscriber equipment for display to the subscriber. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification