Telephone interfaced subscription cable television system especially useful in hotels and motels

• US 4,008,369 A
• Filed: 02/28/1975
• Issued: 02/15/1977
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/1975
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mesc Electronic Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Magnavox Co (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Dormans, Paul M., Theurer, Donald L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Murray, Richard
• Assistant Examiner(s): Coles, Edward L.
• Application Number:
  US05/554,347
• Time in Patent Office: 718 Days
• Field of Search: 325/308, 325/309, 178/DIG. 13, 178/5.1, 178/6
• US Class Current: 725/3
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/00 Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2007/1739 the upstream communication being transmitted via a separate link, e.g. telephone line
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2143 located in a single building, e.g. hotel, hospital or museum arrangements specially adapted for plural spots in a confined site in broadcast systems H04H20/63; adaptations for transmission by electric cable for domestic distribution in television systems H04N7/106
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6118 involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6187 involving transmission via a telephone network, e.g. POTS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17309 Transmission or handling of upstream communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17363 at or near the user terminal

Abstract

A PABX telephone interfaced cable television system especially useful in hotels and motels for distributing free and premium program channels via a coaxial cable television signal distribution network to one or more subscriber terminals and associated television sets, includes a remotely tuned R.F. signal converter connected to each subscriber'"'"'s television set and the coaxial cable network for enabling the set to receive a subscriber selected one of the premium channels not normally receivable by the set. The converter is automatically tuned to the selected premium channel by enabling signals transmitted from a central station to the subscriber'"'"'s converter via the PABX telephone network and the subscriber'"'"'s telephone. The request for a premium channel is made from the subscriber'"'"'s telephone by the dialing of a predetermined sequence of digits peculiar to the requesting subscriber and the desired premium channel selected for viewing. The central station includes a control and monitoring means for receiving, verifying, and processing the subscribers dialed telephone request and for providing the enabling signals for tuning the subscriber'"'"'s converter to the requested premium channel. The control and monitoring means also includes output signals to a paper tape printer for providing a record of the premium channel use activity of each subscriber terminal in the system.

Claims

1. A control and monitoring device for use in a telephone interfaced subscriber television system for receiving from a telephone exchange system subscriber initiated telephone signals and for supplying signals to the automatic telephone exchange system including enabling signals peculiar to the telephone signals, comprising:

first means having an input for receiving the telephone signals from the automatic telephone exchange system including a pulse train consisting of a predetermined number of one or more pulses, said pulse train representing a subscriber request for a particular television program signal, and responsive to the predetermined number of said one or more pulses in the pulse train for providing an output signal on a predetermined one of N number of separate outputs; and

second means connected to said first means and responsive to the output signal on the predetermined one of the N number of separate outputs of said first means for providing simultaneous output signals on a predetermined number of n number of separate outputs; and

third means including an enabling signal source for selectively generating simultaneously the predetermined number of n number of enabling signals each signal having a different signal frequency, said third means having an output adapted to be connected to the automatic telephone exchange system for supplying the enabling signals to said system and connected to said second means and responsive to the output signals on the predetermined number of the n number of separate outputs of said second means for providing at the output of said third means the predetermined number of the n number of enabling signals from said enabling signal source whereby said predetermined enabling signals are a function of the number of pulses in said pulse train.

2. The control and monitoring device of claim 1 wherein the relationship between N and n is

3. The control and monitoring device of claim 1 wherein the first and second means further comprises:

a counting means for counting the number of pulses in said pulse train and providing a binary code output signal representing a binary number equivalent to the number of counted pulses in said pulse train;

a decoding means for converting the binary code output signal of said counting means to an output signal on a predetermined one of a number of separate outputs whereby the presence of an output signal on any one of the separate outputs is a function of the number of pulses in said pulse train; and

a gating means including a number of separate gates each one of said separate gates having an output and at least two inputs, said inputs adapted to receive the output signal from a different one of the separate outputs of said decoding means for providing an output signal from at least a predetermined one of said number of separate gates.

4. The control and monitoring device of claim 3 and further comprising:

means for effecting subscriber access to the control and monitoring device and adapted to be connected to the telephone exchange system for receiving the telephone signals including a ringing signal representing a subscriber request for access and including a ringing signal detector for detecting the ringing signal and providing a signal receivable by the telephone system indicative that the control and monitoring device has answered said ringing signal for effecting a termination of the ringing signal.

5. A control and monitoring device for use on a telephone interfaced subscriber television system for receiving from a telephone exchange system subscriber initiated telephone signals and for supplying signals to the telephone exchange system including enabling signals peculiar to certain of the said subscriber initiated telephone signals, said subscriber initiated telephone signals including a plurality of separate pulse trains, each separate train of said plurality of separate pulse trains having at least one electrical pulse, the pulse in a predetermined at least one of the separate trains in the plurality representing a respective one of a subscriber identification code number, a subscriber verification code number, and a subscriber television program request code number, said subscriber verification code number having a predetermined relationship to said subscriber identification code number, the control and monitoring device comprising:

a signal input means adapted to be connected to the telephone exchange system for receiving from the system the subscriber initiated telephone signals;

a first pulse counting means connected to the input means for summing the number of pulses in the predetermined at least one pulse train representing the subscriber identification code number and providing a binary output signal, said output signal being a binary representation of the summed pulses;

a second pulse counting means connected to said input means for counting the number of pulses in each separate one of the predetermined at least one pulse train representing the subscriber verification code number and providing a binary output signal, said output signal being a binary representation of said subscriber verification code number;

a comparator means connected to said first and second pulse counting means for comparing said binary output signals and providing an output signal indicative of the predetermined relationship of the subscriber identification code number and the subscriber verification code number;

a third pulse counting means connected to said input means for counting the number of pulses in each separate one of the predetermined at least one pulse train representing the subscriber television program request code number and providing a binary output signal, the output signal being a binary representation of said subscriber television program request code number;

means including a binary decoder and connected to said comparator means and the third pulse counting means and responsive to the binary output signal of the third pulse counting means and the output signal of the comparator means for providing an output signal on a predetermined one of several output lines;

an encoder having a predetermined number of outputs and having inputs connected to the predetermined number of output lines of said last mentioned means and responsive to the output signal on the predetermined one of several output lines of said means including a binary decoder for providing output signals on predetermined ones of the predetermined number of outputs;

an enabling signal generator for selectively providing one or more enabling signals, each one of said signals having a characteristic different from the others, the enabling signal generator having an output and at least two enable inputs for selecting said one or more enabling signals, each one of the inputs connected to a different one of the outputs of said encoder and responsive to the output signals on the predetermined ones of the outputs of said encoder for providing predetermined enabling signals at said output; and

a signal output means connected to said enabling signal generator and adapted to be connected to the automatic exchange system for supplying to said system enabling signals.

6. The control and monitoring device of claim 5 further comprising:

a fourth pulse counting means connected to said input means for counting the number of pulses in each separate one of the predetermined one or more pulse trains representing the subscriber identification code number and providing a binary output signal, said output signal being a binary representation of said subscriber identification code number;

a storage means connected to said second, third, and fourth pulse counting means for storing each of the binary output signals representing the respective subscriber verification. program request, and identification code numbers; and

means connected to said storage means and adapted to be connected to a recording means for providing to said recording means signals representing said subscriber code numbers.