SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SEARCHING A DATABASE OF TELEVISION SCHEDULE INFORMATION
4 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
16 Claims
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1-6. -6. (canceled)
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7. 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 (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. 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 (13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification