Automatic TV signal and tuner setup

• US 20060025092A1
• Filed: 07/29/2004
• Published: 02/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Sanders, Scott D., Schwesinger, Mark D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,792,507 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/161.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4263 involving specific tuning arrangements, e.g. two tuners
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44231 Monitoring of peripheral device or external card, e.g. to detect processing problems in a handheld device or the failure of an external recording device configuring of peripheral devices in general G06F9/4411; reporting information sensed by appliance or service execution status of appliance services in a home automation network H04L12/2823; monitoring the status of connected device in data switched networks H04L43/0817
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4432 Powering on the client, e.g. bootstrap loading using setup parameters being stored locally or received from the server resetting in general G06F1/14; program loading or initiating in general G06F9/445; bootstrapping in general G06F9/4401; secure boots of computer platforms G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/46 for receiving on more than one standard at will deflecting circuits of multi-standard receivers H04N3/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/50 Tuning indicators; Automatic tuning control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

A system and methods perform an automatic TV signal/tuner setup in a tuner device (e.g., a PC, a personal video recorder, a set-top box, etc.) that has one or more tuners. The setup identifies the number of tuners in the device, whether the tuners are analog or digital, and what broadcast standard each tuner supports. The geographic region in which the device will be receiving TV signals is identified, and tuners supporting that region are identified. Digital tuners are reported as being digital, while analog tuners are scanned to locate valid TV signals, and to determine the source of any valid TV signals (e.g., an antenna, a cable provider, a set-top box).

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying tuners in a tuner device;

determining whether each tuner is an analog tuner or a digital tuner;

reporting each digital tuner to a user;

reporting each analog tuner to the user; and

if no tuners are identified, reporting that no tuners were found.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the identifying comprises:

identifying a geographical region in which the tuner device will receive TV signals;

identifying a quantity of tuners in the tuner device;

identifying a broadcast standard supported by each tuner; and

identifying an input connector type for each tuner.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the reporting each digital tuner comprises inspecting each digital tuner for a signal lock.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the reporting each analog tuner comprises:

scanning a current analog tuner for valid TV signals; and

determining a source of the valid TV signals.

5. A method as recited in claim 4, wherein the scanning comprises:

scanning the current analog tuner for auxiliary input signals.

6. A method as recited in claim 5, further comprising:

if auxiliary input signals are found,

checking for the presence of additional tuners;

if one or more additional tuners are present, scanning a next tuner to determine if the next tuner is digital or analog; and

after all tuners have been scanned, reporting the current analog tuner as having set-top box signals.

7. A method as recited in claim 5, further comprising:

if auxiliary input signals are not found, scanning the current analog tuner for cable-only channel sets and antenna-only channel sets.

8. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein scanning the current analog tuner for cable-only channel sets and antenna-only channel sets comprises:

accessing a frequency map based on an identified geographic region in which the tuner device will receive TV signals, the frequency map identifying a cable space and an antenna space in which the TV signals are expected; and

scanning the current analog tuner to detect valid TV signals within the cable space and the antenna space at channel frequencies identified by the frequency map.

9. A method as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

determining that a TV signal source for the current analog tuner is a cable source only if more valid TV signals are detected in the cable space than are detected in the antenna space, and, a detected number of valid TV signals in the cable space exceeds a minimum threshold; and

determining that a TV signal source for the current analog tuner is an antenna source only if the TV signal source is not determined to be a cable source, and, a detected number of valid TV signals in the antenna space exceeds a minimum threshold.

10. A method as recited in claim 9, further comprising:

if the TV signal source for the current analog tuner is a cable source or an antenna source,

checking for the presence of additional tuners;

if one or more additional tuners are present, scanning a next tuner to determine if the next tuner is digital or analog; and

after all tuners have been scanned, reporting the current analog tuner as having cable signals or antenna signals.

11. A method as recited in claim 9, further comprising:

if the TV signal source for the current analog tuner is neither a cable source nor an antenna source, scanning for valid TV signals in an indeterminate set of frequencies identified in the frequency map, the indeterminate set of frequencies containing both cable and antenna frequencies.

12. A method as recited in claim 11, further comprising:

if a detected number of valid TV signals in the indeterminate set exceeds a minimum threshold,

checking for the presence of additional tuners;

if one or more additional tuners are present, scanning a next tuner to determine if the next tuner is digital or analog; and

after all tuners have been scanned, reporting the current analog tuner as having indeterminate signals and querying the user to determine if the valid TV signals are cable signals or antenna signals.

13. A method as recited in claim 12, further comprising:

if the current analog tuner does not have indeterminate signals, determining if the identified geographic region supports RF set-top boxes.

14. A method as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

if the identified geographic region supports RF set-top boxes, accessing a region-specific set of RF set-top box frequencies identified in the frequency map; and

scanning frequencies in the region-specific set of RF set-top box frequencies for valid TV signals.

15. A method as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

if a minimum number of valid TV signals is not detected in the region-specific set of RF set-top box frequencies,

checking for the presence of additional tuners;

if one or more additional tuners are present, scanning a next tuner to determine if the next tuner is digital or analog; and

after all tuners have been scanned, reporting the current analog tuner as having no detectable signal.

16. A method as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

if a minimum number of valid TV signals is detected in the region-specific set of RF set-top box frequencies,

checking for the presence of additional tuners;

if one or more additional tuners are present, scanning a next tuner to determine if the next tuner is digital or analog; and

after all tuners have been scanned, reporting the current analog tuner as having RF set-top box signals.

17. A processor-readable medium comprising processor-executable instructions configured for performing the method of claim 1.

18. A tuner device comprising the processor-readable medium of claim 17.

19. The tuner device of claim 18, selected from the group comprising:

a PC (personal computer)

a set-top box;

a personal video recorder;

a video cassette recorder; and

a television set.

20. A processor-readable medium comprising processor-executable instructions configured for:

identifying one or more tuners in a tuner device;

scanning analog tuners for TV signals in accordance with a frequency map, the frequency map identifying tuning spaces in which TV signals are likely to be detected based on an identified geographic region; and

based on the scanning, reporting a TV signal source of the analog tuners to a user.

21. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 20, comprising further processor-executable instructions configured for:

querying a user to determine the geographic region, the geographic region being a location in which the TV signals will be received; and

receiving identification information from a user in response to the querying.

22. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 21, wherein the identification information is selected from the group comprising:

a country code; and

a zip code.

23. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 20, comprising further processor-executable instructions configured for:

determining that at least one tuner is a digital tuner;

inspecting the at least one digital tuner for a TV signal lock; and

reporting to the user that the at least one digital tuner has a digital signal source.

24. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 20, wherein the scanning is selected from the group comprising:

scanning for auxiliary input signals;

scanning for input signals in a cable tuning space, the cable tuning space being defined by the frequency map;

scanning for input signals in an antenna tuning space, the antenna tuning space being defined by the frequency map;

scanning for input signals in an indeterminate analog tuning space, the indeterminate analog tuning space including frequencies from both the cable tuning space and the antenna tuning space, and the indeterminate analog tuning space being defined by the frequency map; and

scanning for input signals in an RF set-top box tuning space, the RF set-top box tuning space being defined by the frequency map.

25. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 20, wherein the tuner device is selected from the group comprising:

a PC (personal computer)

a set-top box;

a personal video recorder;

a video cassette recorder; and

a television set.

26. A computer comprising the processor-readable medium recited in claim 20.

27. A computer comprising:

one or more TV signal tuners; and

a signal-tuner setup manager configured to identify the one or more TV signal tuners, analyze signals at the inputs of the one or more TV signal tuners, and report a tuner type and a TV signal source type to a user.

28. A computer as recited in claim 27, further comprising a frequency map configured to provide likely frequencies in one or more tuning spaces where TV signals will be detected, the frequency map being based upon a geographical location in which the TV signals will be received.

29. A computer as recited in claim 27, wherein the one or more TV signal tuners is a digital tuner, and the signal-tuner setup manager is configured to inspect the digital tuner for a signal lock and report the digital tuner to a user as having a digital signal source.

30. A computer as recited in claim 27, wherein the one or more TV signal tuners is an analog tuner, and the signal-tuner setup manager is configured to analyze analog signals at the inputs of the analog tuner and to report the analog tuner to the user and identify the source of the analog signals, the source being selected from the group comprising:

a set-top box signal source;

a cable signal source; and

an antenna signal source.

31. A computer as recited in claim 27, selected from the group comprising:

a PC (personal computer)

a set-top box;

a personal video recorder;

a video cassette recorder; and

a television set.