Method and system for television channel group

• US 20080244641A1
• Filed: 05/19/2007
• Published: 10/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InnoBrilliance, LLC (AppBrilliance, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: TP Lab, Inc.
• Inventors: Chiu, Shin Cheung Simon, Ho, Chi Fai
• Granted Patent: US 8,925,010 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/00 Interconnection of, or transfer of information or other signals between, memories, input/output devices or central processing units interface circuits for specific input/output devices G06F3/00 ; multiprogram control therefor G06F9/46; multiprocessor systems G06F15/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/00 Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00442 Simultaneous viewing of a plurality of images, e.g. using a mosaic display arrangement of thumbnails
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4263 involving specific tuning arrangements, e.g. two tuners
• 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 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4332 by placing content in organized collections, e.g. local EPG data repository interfaces, Database management systems or updating for information retrieval G06F16/23; details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video database G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4348 Demultiplexing of additional data and video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43635 HDMI
• 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 21/4823 using a channel name
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• 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 7/0122 the input and the output signals having different aspect ratios

Abstract

Provided is a method and system for displaying video from a plurality of video streams on a display. It includes an input interface for receiving video data from a plurality of video streams and transferring the video data to a frame controller in communication with a television display. The frame controller causes the video data from each of the plurality of different video streams to be displayed in a separate frame on the television display, and each frame occupying an area of the television display separate from an area occupied by any other frame. The frame controller displays a channel group on the television display. The channel group comprises a list of channels sharing at least one common attribute.

Claims

1. A television system comprising:

an input interface for receiving video data from a plurality of video streams and transferring the video data to a frame controller in communication with a television display;

the frame controller causing the video data from each of the plurality of different video streams to be displayed in a separate frame on the television display, each frame occupying an area of the television display separate from an area occupied by any other frame, and at least two of the frames being of different sizes;

the frame controller further causing display of a channel group in at least one of the separate frames on the television display, the channel group comprising a list of channels, each channel comprising a plurality of serially-available video streams sharing at least one common attribute.

2. The television system according to claim 1, wherein the input interface receives video data from one or more sources selected from the list including broadcast television, cable television, satellite television, video cassette player (VCR), and digital versatile disk (DVD).

3. The television system according to claim 1, wherein the input interface receives video data in one or more of the following formats:

NTSC, PAL, and HDTV.

4. The television system according to claim 1, wherein the input interface comprises one or more of a coaxial interface, a radio frequency (RF) interface, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), component interface, composite interface, an Ethernet interface, or a wireless network interface.

5. The television system according to claim 1, wherein the frame controller is in communication with the television display through an output interface, the output interface comprising an RF interface, an HDMI interface, an S-video interface, a component interface or a composite interface.

6. The television system according to claim 5, wherein the output interface includes a wireless network.

7. The television system according to claim 6, wherein the wireless network is a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) network, or and Ultra-wideband (UWB) network.

8. The television system according to claim 1, wherein the common attribute for the channel group is one of sports, news, or movies.

9. The television system according to claim 1, wherein the common attribute for the channel group is one of ethnicity, language or culture.

10. The television system according to claim 1, wherein the common attribute for the channel group is one of age appropriateness, age preference, or age restricted.

11. The television system according to claim 1, wherein the common attribute for the channel group is selected by a user.

12. The television system according to claim 11, wherein the user selects the common attribute from a list of common attributes.

13. The television system according to claim 1, wherein a user provides a key to the frame controller when the user attempts to access a channel group.

14. The television system according to claim 13, wherein the user provides a key to the frame controller when the user attempts to access a display channel from a channel group.

15. The television system according to claim 13, wherein the frame controller verifies the key with a multi-channel operator or data network to control access to a display channel selected from the channel group.

16. A method of displaying video from a plurality of video streams on a television display, the method comprising:

inputting video data from the plurality of video streams to a frame controller;

causing, by the frame controller, the video data from each of the plurality of video streams to be displayed in a separate frame on the television display, each frame occupying an area of the television display separate from an area occupied by any other frame, and at least two of the frames being of different sizes;

causing, by the frame controller, display of a channel group in at least one of the separate frames on the television display, the channel group comprising a list of channels, each channel comprising a plurality of serially-available video streams sharing at least one common attribute

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the common attribute for the channel group is one of sports, news, or movies.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein the common attribute for the channel group is one of ethnicity, language or culture.

19. The method according to claim 16, wherein the common attribute for the channel group is one of age appropriateness, age preference, or age restricted.

20. The method according to claim 16, wherein the common attribute for the channel group is user-selected.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the user-selected common attribute is selected from a list of common attributes.

22. The method according to claim 16, further comprising:

providing a key to the frame controller by a user when the user attempts to access a channel group.

23. The method according to claim 16, further comprising:

verifying a key provided by a user with a multi-channel operator or data network by the frame controller to control access to a channel group.

24. The method according to claim 16, further comprising:

verifying a key provided by a user with a multi-channel operator or data network by the frame controller to control access to a display channel from a channel group.