Targeted data transmission and location services using digital television signaling

• US 20040140932A1
• Filed: 09/30/2003
• Published: 07/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TruePosition Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Rosum Corporation (Liberty Broadband Corp.)
• Inventors: Spilker, James J. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 6,970,132 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/464
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/205 for detecting the geographical location of the game platform
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/09 providing processing capability normally carried out by the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/46 the supplementary measurement being of a radio-wave signal type
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0036 of measured values, i.e. measurement on mobile and position calculation on base station
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0054 of actual mobile position, i.e. position calculation on base station
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0081 Transmission between base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/021 Calibration, monitoring or correction G01S5/0252 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0218 Multipath in signal reception
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0221 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0226 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0236 Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/12 by co-ordinating position lines of different shape, e.g. hyperbolic, circular, elliptical or radial
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/145 Using a supplementary range measurement, e.g. based on pseudo-range measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks 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 21/2662 Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41422 located in transportation means, e.g. personal vehicle arrangements specially adapted for transportation systems in broadcast systems H04H20/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/615 Signal processing at physical level signal processing in analog two-way television systems H04N7/173
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8126 involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and computer-readable media comprise receiving a broadcast digital television signal comprising data relevant to one or more particular locations; generating a pseudorange based on the broadcast digital television signal; and determining location of an apparatus based on the pseudorange and a location of a transmitter of the broadcast digital television signal, and selecting a portion of the data relevant to the one or more particular locations based on the determined location of the apparatus.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a receiver adapted to receive a broadcast digital television signal comprising data relevant to one or more particular locations;

a pseudorange unit adapted to generate a pseudorange based on the broadcast digital television signal; and

a processor adapted to

determine the location of the apparatus based on the pseudorange and a location of a transmitter of the broadcast digital television signal, and

select a portion of the data relevant to the one or more particular locations based on the location of the apparatus determined by the processor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

an output device adapted to output the data selected by the processor.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the output device is selected from the group consisting of:

a display; and

a speaker.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a signal generator adapted to generate a correlation reference signal based on known characteristics of the broadcast digital television signal; and

a correlator adapted to correlate the broadcast digital television signal with the correlation reference signal, thereby producing the pseudorange.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further adapted to:

adjust the pseudorange based on a difference between a transmitter clock at the transmitter of the broadcast digital television signal and a known time reference; and

determine the location of the apparatus based on the pseudorange adjusted by the processor and the location of the transmitter of the broadcast digital television signal.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a time-gated delay-lock loop to track the broadcast digital television signal.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data relevant to one or more particular locations is selected from the group consisting of:

traffic information for the one or more particular locations;

emergency information for the one or more particular locations;

weather information for the one or more particular locations;

maps of the one or more particular locations; and

businesses in the one or more particular locations.

8. A computer comprising the apparatus of claim 1.

9. A personal digital assistant comprising the apparatus of claim 1.

10. A television comprising the apparatus of claim 1.

11. An apparatus comprising:

receiver means for receiving a broadcast digital television signal comprising data relevant to one or more particular locations;

pseudorange means for generating a pseudorange based on the broadcast digital television signal; and

processor means for

determining the location of the apparatus based on the pseudorange and a location of a transmitter of the broadcast digital television signal, and

selecting a portion of the data relevant to the one or more particular locations based on the location of the apparatus determined by the processor.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising:

output means for outputting the data selected by the processor.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising:

signal generator means for generating a correlation reference signal based on known characteristics of the broadcast digital television signal; and

correlator means for correlating the broadcast digital television signal with the correlation reference signal, thereby producing the pseudorange.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor means:

adjusts the pseudorange based on a difference between a transmitter clock at the transmitter of the broadcast digital television signal and a known time reference; and

determines the location of the apparatus based on the pseudorange adjusted by the processor and the location of the transmitter of the broadcast digital television signal.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising:

time-gated delay-lock loop means for tracking the broadcast digital television signal.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the data relevant to one or more particular locations is selected from the group consisting of:

traffic information for the one or more particular locations;

emergency information for the one or more particular locations;

weather information for the one or more particular locations;

maps of the one or more particular locations; and

businesses in the one or more particular locations.

17. A method comprising:

receiving a broadcast digital television signal comprising data relevant to one or more particular locations;

generating a pseudorange based on the broadcast digital television signal;

determining location of an apparatus based on the pseudorange and a location of a transmitter of the broadcast digital television signal; and

selecting a portion of the data relevant to the one or more particular locations based on the determined location of the apparatus.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

outputting the selected data.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

generating a correlation reference signal based on known characteristics of the broadcast digital television signal; and

correlating the broadcast digital television signal with the correlation reference signal, thereby producing the pseudorange.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

adjusting the pseudorange based on a difference between a transmitter clock at the transmitter of the broadcast digital television signal and a known time reference; and

determining the location of the apparatus based on the pseudorange adjusted by the processor and the location of the transmitter of the broadcast digital television signal.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the data relevant to one or more particular locations is selected from the group consisting of:

traffic information for the one or more particular locations;

emergency information for the one or more particular locations;

weather information for the one or more particular locations;

maps of the one or more particular locations; and

businesses in the one or more particular locations.

22. Computer-readable media embodying instructions executable by a computer to perform a method comprising:

generating a pseudorange based on a broadcast digital television signal comprising data relevant to one or more particular locations;

determining location of an apparatus based on the pseudorange and a location of a transmitter of the broadcast digital television signal; and

selecting a portion of the data relevant to the one or more particular locations based on the determined location of the apparatus.

23. The media of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises:

outputting the selected data.

24. The media of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises:

generating a correlation reference signal based on known characteristics of the broadcast digital television signal; and

correlating the broadcast digital television signal with the correlation reference signal, thereby producing the pseudorange.

25. The media of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises:

adjusting the pseudorange based on a difference between a transmitter clock at the transmitter of the broadcast digital television signal and a known time reference; and

determining the location of the apparatus based on the pseudorange adjusted by the processor and the location of the transmitter of the broadcast digital television signal.

26. The media of claim 22, wherein the data relevant to one or more particular locations is selected from the group consisting of:

traffic information for the one or more particular locations;

emergency information for the one or more particular locations;

weather information for the one or more particular locations;

maps of the one or more particular locations; and

businesses in the one or more particular locations.