Television channel scan
First Claim
1. A television channel scan method, comprising:
- selecting a first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan;
scanning a plurality of N frequencies of the first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan to determine if any channel was detected by sequentially tuning the channels at a tuner;
if at least one channel of the CEA-542-B compliant channel plan was detected, selecting all channels from the first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan as channels available for a user to tune;
if no channels were detected in the N frequencies of the first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan, then selecting a second CEA-542-B compliant channel plan;
scanning a plurality of N frequencies of the second CEA-542 compliant channel plan to determine if any channel was detected by sequentially tuning the channels at the tuner;
if at least one channel of the CEA-542-B compliant channel plan was detected, selecting all channels from the second CEA-542-B compliant channel plan as channels available for a user to tune;
if no channels were detected in the N frequencies of the second CEA-542-B compliant channel plan, then selecting a third CEA-542-B compliant channel plan;
scanning a plurality of N frequencies of the third CEA-542-B compliant channel plan to determine if any channel was detected by sequentially tuning the channels at the tuner;
if at least one channel of the CEA-542-B compliant channel plan was detected, selecting all channels from the third CEA-542-B compliant channel plan as channels available for a user to tune; and
wherein N is a positive integer.
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Abstract
In accord with embodiments and implementations consistent with the present invention, rather than perform a full scan of every frequency to find a channel, the tuner is programmed to find a reasonable sample of channels. For example, the tuner can search for at least two or three (generalized as N) channels to determine the frequency plan of the channels (by virtue of detection of at least one channel) and then use one of the known plans to directly identify the frequency map. The process can then step quickly through each frequency, without optimizing or fine tuning each channel, to determine the existence of a channel. With this process the number of tunable channels is found quicker and the initial setup time is shortened. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A television channel scan method, comprising:
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selecting a first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan; scanning a plurality of N frequencies of the first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan to determine if any channel was detected by sequentially tuning the channels at a tuner; if at least one channel of the CEA-542-B compliant channel plan was detected, selecting all channels from the first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan as channels available for a user to tune; if no channels were detected in the N frequencies of the first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan, then selecting a second CEA-542-B compliant channel plan; scanning a plurality of N frequencies of the second CEA-542 compliant channel plan to determine if any channel was detected by sequentially tuning the channels at the tuner; if at least one channel of the CEA-542-B compliant channel plan was detected, selecting all channels from the second CEA-542-B compliant channel plan as channels available for a user to tune; if no channels were detected in the N frequencies of the second CEA-542-B compliant channel plan, then selecting a third CEA-542-B compliant channel plan; scanning a plurality of N frequencies of the third CEA-542-B compliant channel plan to determine if any channel was detected by sequentially tuning the channels at the tuner; if at least one channel of the CEA-542-B compliant channel plan was detected, selecting all channels from the third CEA-542-B compliant channel plan as channels available for a user to tune; and wherein N is a positive integer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22)
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12. A television channel scan method, comprising:
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selecting a first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan; scanning a plurality of N frequencies of the first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan to determine if any channel was detected by sequentially tuning the channels at a tuner; if at least one channel of the CEA-542-B compliant channel plan was detected, selecting all channels from the first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan as channels available for a user to tune; if no channels were detected in the N frequencies of the first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan, then selecting a second CEA-542-B compliant channel plan; scanning a plurality of M frequencies of the second CEA-542 compliant channel plan to determine if any channel was detected by sequentially tuning the channels at the tuner; if at least one channel of the CEA-542-B compliant channel plan was detected, selecting all channels from the second CEA-542-B compliant channel plan as channels available for a user to tune; if no channels were detected in the M frequencies of the second CEA-542-B compliant channel plan, then selecting a third CEA-542-B compliant channel plan; scanning a plurality of P frequencies of the third CEA-542-B compliant channel plan to determine if any channel was detected by sequentially tuning the channels at the tuner; and if at least one channel of the CEA-542-B compliant channel plan was detected, selecting all channels from the third CEA-542-B compliant channel plan as channels available for a user to tune; and wherein N, M and P are positive integers. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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23. A television channel scan method, comprising:
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selecting a first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan; scanning a plurality of N frequencies of the first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan to determine if any channel was detected by sequentially tuning the channels at a tuner; if at least one channel of the CEA-542-B compliant channel plan was detected, selecting all channels from the first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan as channels available for a user to tune; if no channels were detected in the N frequencies of the first CEA-542-B compliant channel plan, then selecting a second CEA-542-B compliant channel plan; scanning a plurality of M frequencies of the second CEA-542 compliant channel plan to determine if any channel was detected by sequentially tuning the channels at the tuner; if at least one channel of the CEA-542-B compliant channel plan was detected, selecting all channels from the second CEA-542-B compliant channel plan as channels available for a user to tune; if no channels were detected in the M frequencies of the second CEA-542-B compliant channel plan, then selecting a third CEA-542-B compliant channel plan; scanning a plurality of P frequencies of the third CEA-542-B compliant channel plan to determine if any channel was detected by sequentially tuning the channels at the tuner; if at least one channel of the CEA-542-B compliant channel plan was detected, selecting all channels from the third CEA-542-B compliant channel plan as channels available for a user to tune; if no channels were detected in the P frequencies of the first, second and third CEA-542-B compliant channel plan, then carrying out a complete channel scan of all channels in all three CEA-542-B compliant channel plans; wherein N, M and P are positive integers; storing an over the air (OTA) channel plan to a memory device using default frequency values; storing the selected channels in the memory device using default frequency values; carrying out a scan of the selected channel plan as a background function to refine the tuning of each available channel in the selected channel plan and omit unused channels; and fine tuning the channels a user selects a channel for viewing from the channel plan.
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Specification