Television information system
First Claim
1. A cable television information system for transmitting video picture information to television receivers at subscriber terminals on a cable distribution system, said cable distribution system including a head end, at least one trunk line connected to said head end, at least one bridger amplifier connected to said trunk line and at least one feeder cable connected between said bridger amplifier and said subscriber terminals, said cable television information system comprising:
- information storage means for storing video picture information;
information retrieval means coupled to said head end and said information storage means for retrieving video picture information from said information storage means and supplying the video picture information to said head end for transmission on said trunk lines of said cable distribution system;
control means associated with at least one of said bridger amplifiers and at least one of said feeder lines for capturing and storing the video picture information on said trunk line, said control means including transmission means for transmitting the video picture information to one of said subscriber terminals on a television channel dedicated to said one subscriber terminal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This television information system transmits selected video picture information to one of a number of subscribers who have television sets connected to the system. First, the subscriber makes a selection by transmitting a request to the head end. A central computer interprets the request, searches the available data banks for the information, and records it. Next, the information along with an identifying number is returned to the system and sent to a control station.
At the control station, the identifying number is used to route the information to a particular modulator associated with the subscriber who made the request. The information is stored and used to modulate a unique carrier frequency which has been dedicated to that subscriber.
The control station sends the modulated carrier frequency (containing the selected information) to a feeder line to which may be connected a number of subscribers, including the one who made the request. If the requesting subscriber'"'"'s television set is tuned to his carrier frequency, he can receive the requested information. Privacy is assured by dedicating to each subscriber a different carrier frequency and associated television channel, and by filtering out all other channels which might be transmitted on the feeder line.
Standard, unmodified television sets may be used with this system; and rapid retrieval of information from large data banks is possible.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A cable television information system for transmitting video picture information to television receivers at subscriber terminals on a cable distribution system, said cable distribution system including a head end, at least one trunk line connected to said head end, at least one bridger amplifier connected to said trunk line and at least one feeder cable connected between said bridger amplifier and said subscriber terminals, said cable television information system comprising:
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information storage means for storing video picture information; information retrieval means coupled to said head end and said information storage means for retrieving video picture information from said information storage means and supplying the video picture information to said head end for transmission on said trunk lines of said cable distribution system; control means associated with at least one of said bridger amplifiers and at least one of said feeder lines for capturing and storing the video picture information on said trunk line, said control means including transmission means for transmitting the video picture information to one of said subscriber terminals on a television channel dedicated to said one subscriber terminal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A cable television information system for transmitting information to television receivers at subscriber terminals on a cable distribution system including a head end, trunk lines connected to said head end, bridger amplifiers connected to said trunk lines and feeder cables connected between said bridger amplifiers and said subscriber terminals, said cable television information system comprising:
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information storage means for storing information; information retrieval means coupled to said head end and said information storage means for retrieving specified information from said information storage means upon request by one of said subscriber terminals, said one subscriber terminal including request means for requesting the specified information and transmitting a request to said information retrieval means over said cable distribution system, said information retrieval means supplying the specified information to said head end for transmission on said trunk lines of said cable distribution system; control means coupled to said trunk lines at a location corresponding to the location of the bridger amplifier and feeder cable associated with said one subscriber terminal for capturing the specified information, said control means including storage means for storing the specified information and transmission means connected to said storage means for repetitively transmitting the specified information stored in said storage means to said one subscriber terminal on a television channel dedicated to said one subscriber terminal.
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33. In a cable distribution system including a head end, trunk lines connected to said head end, bridger amplifiers connected to said trunk lines, feeder cables connected to said bridger amplifiers and subscriber terminals connected to said feeder cables, a cable television information system for transmitting video picture information to television receivers at said subscriber terminals, said cable television information system comprising:
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information storage means for storing video picture information; information retrieval means coupled to said head end and said information storage means for retrieving video picture information from said information storage means upon request by one of said subscriber terminals and supplying the video picture information to said head end for transmission on said trunk lines of said cable distribution system; control means coupled to said trunk lines at a location corresponding to the location of the bridger amplifier connected to the feeder line connected to said one subscriber terminal for capturing the video picture information, said control means including storage means for storing the video picture information and transmission means coupled to said storage means for repetitively transmitting the video picture information stored in said storage means to said one subscriber terminal on a television channel dedicated to said one subscriber terminal.
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34. In a cable television system containing a plurality of television receivers connected to a transmission line for transmitting television signals including programming to the receivers, wherein selected data is transmitted on the transmission line along with the programming, an information system for displaying the selected data on a selected one of the television receivers, comprising:
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data extraction means connected to the transmission line for extracting the selected data therefrom; switching means connected to said data extraction means for routing the selected data in accordance with the identity of the selected one of the television receivers on which the data is to be displayed; storage means connected to said switching means for storing the selected data; and a plurality of modulators, each of said modulators being connected between said storage means and the transmission line and operating at a unique carrier frequency associated with a particular television receiver, to modulate the carrier frequencies with the data stored in said storage means.
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35. A method for transmitting video picture information to a selected one of a plurality of television receivers on a cable distribution system which includes a feeder line connected to the television receivers and a frame store, said method comprising the steps of:
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storing the information in the frame store; modulating a carrier frequency with the stored information, said carrier frequency being associated with the selected television receiver; transmitting the modulated carrier frequency along the feeder line; and tuning the selected television receiver to the carrier frequency.
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36. A method for transmitting video picture information to a requesting subscriber'"'"'s terminal on a cable distribution system which includes a head end, a trunk line connected to the head end, a plurality of frame stores connected to the trunk line, a feeder line connected to the plurality of frame stores, and a plurality of subscriber terminals connected to the feeder line, said method comprising the steps of:
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generating a request for the information at the requesting subscriber'"'"'s terminal; receiving the request at the head end; acquiring the information at the head end; adding a unique identifying number, associated with the requesting subscriber'"'"'s terminal, to the information; transmitting the information on the trunk line; storing the information in the frame store; modulating a carrier frequency, associated with the identifying number, with the information; transmitting the modulated carrier frequency on the feeder line; tuning the requesting subscriber'"'"'s terminal to the carrier frequency; and tuning all other subscriber terminals to frequencies other than the carrier frequency.
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37. A television information system for transmitting video picture information to television receivers at subscriber terminals on a distribution system, said distribution system including a head end and at least one feeder line connected between said head end and said subscriber terminals, said television information system comprising:
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information storage means for storing video picture information; information retrieval means coupled to said information storage means for retrieving video picture information from said information storage means; control means connected to said information retrieval means and said feeder line for capturing and storing the video picture information retrieved by said information retrieval means, said control means including transmission means for transmitting the video picture information along said feeder line to one of said subscriber terminals on a television channel dedicated to said one subscriber terminal.
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38. A television information system for transmitting information to television receivers at subscriber terminals on a distribution system including a head end and feeder lines connected between said head end and said subscriber terminals, said television information system comprising:
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information storage means for storing information; information retrieval means coupled to said head end and said information storage means for retrieving specified information from said information storage means upon request by one of said subscriber terminals, said one subscriber terminal including request means for requesting the specified information and transmitting a request to said information retrieval means over said distribution system; and control means coupled to said information retrieval means and said feeder line associated with said one subscriber terminal for capturing the specified information from said information retrieval means, said control means including storage means for storing the specified information and transmission means connected to said storage means for repetitively transmitting the specified information stored in said storage means along said feeder line to said one subscriber terminal on a television channel dedicated to said one subscriber terminal.
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Specification