System and method for searching a database of television schedule information
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Compressed codes of as few as 1 to 8 digits, which are decoded by a decoder to convert the compressed code into channel, date, time and length information, identify single TV programs or a category of programs and are stored at a central location accessible over telephone lines through pay-per-use, toll free or regular toll numbers from remote locations. The channel, date, time and length information is used to select channels, start recording, and stop recording at the appropriate time or to control viewing on a TV.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1-7. -7. (canceled)
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8. A method of controlling the recording or the viewing of television programs comprising:
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searching a database of television schedule information based on television program selection criteria given by a user who wishes to record or watch television programs, and deriving program identification data from the database, the program identification data corresponding to television programs meeting the television program selection criteria and including information indicating broadcasting times of the respective television programs; checking the program identification data derived in the database search for time conflicts between programs that overlap each other; if at least one time conflict exists, modifying the program identification data by resolving the at least one time conflict to create a modified program identification data; and transmitting the modified program identification data over a communications link to a controller for controlling the recording or viewing of television programs, wherein the at least one time conflict is resolved by recording or viewing at least a portion of each of the television programs having broadcasting times that overlap each other. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for scheduling and controlling the recording of television programs at a user site, wherein the user site includes a plurality of video recorders and a processor that is in communication with a remote site, wherein the processor is located in a device separate from the plurality of video recorders, the processor operative to communicate with each of the plurality of video recorders, the method comprising:
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receiving, with the processor, a compressed code, wherein the compressed code corresponds to a channel, a date, and a time for a media program; decoding, with the processor, the compressed code to produce the channel, date, and time; communicating at least the date and the time from the processor to a particular one of the plurality of video recorders; and scheduling, with the particular one of the plurality of video recorders, a recording based on the received date and the received time. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for controlling the recording or the viewing of television programs comprising:
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a database of program schedule information, wherein the database is configured to be searched based on television program selection criteria given by a user who wishes to record or watch television programs, and is further configured to derive program identification data for at least one television program corresponding to the television program selection criteria, the program identification data including information indicating broadcasting times of the respective television programs; a processor configured to; check the program identification data derived in the database search for time conflicts between programs that overlap each other; and modify the program identification data, if at least one time conflict exists, by resolving the at least one time conflict to create a modified program identification data; and a communications link for transmitting the modified program identification data, in which the time conflicts are resolved, to a controller configured to control the recording or the viewing of television programs, wherein the at least one time conflict is resolved by recording or viewing at least a portion of each of the television programs having broadcasting times that overlap each other. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A system for scheduling and controlling the recording of television programs at a user site, the system comprising:
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a processor, located in device at the user site, that is in communication with a remote site, wherein the processor is configured to; receive, from the remote site, a compressed code, wherein the compressed code corresponds to a channel, a date, and a time for a media program; and decode the compressed code to produce the channel, the date, and the time; and a plurality of video recorders, at the user site, that is separate from and in communication with the processor, wherein a particular video recorder of the plurality of video recorders is configured to; receive at least the date and the time from the processor; and schedule a recording based on the at least received date and received time. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A system for scheduling and controlling the recording of television programs at a user site, the user site comprising a plurality of video recorders and a downloadable programmer, wherein the downloadable programmer is separate from and in communication with each of the plurality of video recorders, the method comprising:
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a computer, at a site remote from the user site, that is configured to communicate to the user site a compressed code corresponding to a media program, wherein the compressed code is based on a human input at the remote site; and a downloadable programmer, at the user site, that is configured to; receive the compressed code; decode the compressed code to produce a channel, a date, and a time; and control the scheduling of a recording with a particular one of the plurality of video recorders based on the channel, the date, and the time. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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Specification