Television channel lockout
First Claim
1. A receiver of the type which is electronically tunable to any of a plurality of modulated carrier signals, said receiver comprising a tuner local oscillator the oscillating frequency of which is controlled by a phase lock loop having a programmable frequency divider, a microprocessor responsive to an input indicating the selection of a modulated carrier signal to which the receiver should tune for loading said programmable frequency divider with a programmable constant to cause said local oscillator to oscillate at the required frequency to tune the receiver to the selected modulated carrier signal, and a non-volatile memory connected to said microprocessor for storing information, said microprocessor being responsive to a user entered lockout code sequence for storing in said non-volatile memory information identifying at least one of said plurality of modulated carrier signals the reception of which is to be inhibited and also for storing in said non-volatile memory said user entered lockout code sequence, timing means, said microprocessor being responsive to said timing means to thereafter for a predetermined period of time prohibiting the loading of a corresponding programmable constant in said programmable frequency divider whenever a user input indicates the selection of a modulated carrier signal the reception of which is to be inhibited and when said predetermined period of time has expired, said micrprocessor erasing the information in said non-volatile memory.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronically tuned television receiver is provided with a channel lockout feature to control viewer program selection. The television receiver has a tuner local oscillator (101), the frequency of which is controlled by a phase lock loop (12) having a programmable frequency divider (122,123). A microprocessor receives a user input from a keyboard (14) or remote transmitter (15) indicating a desired channel. In response to this input, the microprocessor normally loads a programmable constant in the programmable frequency divider to cause the tuner (10) to be tuned to the desired channel. However, the microprocessor is programmed to respond to a user entered lockout code sequence to store in a non-volatile memory (19) one or more channels to be inhibited for a predetermined period of time. Should a user input indicate one of the inhibited channels, the microprocessor does not load the corresponding programmable constant in the programmable frequency divider with the result that the television receiver continues to receive the last valid channel selected. Once the predetermined period of time has elapsed, the non-volatile memory is cleared of the inhibited channels, and the television receiver reverts to normal tuning operation for all channels. The microprocessor is further programmed to respond to a security code to permit viewing of an inhibited channel during the time that channel is locked out. In addition, the microprocessor is programmed to respond to a master key code to permit clearing of all inhibited channels stored in the non-volatile memory.
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Citations
23 Claims
- 1. A receiver of the type which is electronically tunable to any of a plurality of modulated carrier signals, said receiver comprising a tuner local oscillator the oscillating frequency of which is controlled by a phase lock loop having a programmable frequency divider, a microprocessor responsive to an input indicating the selection of a modulated carrier signal to which the receiver should tune for loading said programmable frequency divider with a programmable constant to cause said local oscillator to oscillate at the required frequency to tune the receiver to the selected modulated carrier signal, and a non-volatile memory connected to said microprocessor for storing information, said microprocessor being responsive to a user entered lockout code sequence for storing in said non-volatile memory information identifying at least one of said plurality of modulated carrier signals the reception of which is to be inhibited and also for storing in said non-volatile memory said user entered lockout code sequence, timing means, said microprocessor being responsive to said timing means to thereafter for a predetermined period of time prohibiting the loading of a corresponding programmable constant in said programmable frequency divider whenever a user input indicates the selection of a modulated carrier signal the reception of which is to be inhibited and when said predetermined period of time has expired, said micrprocessor erasing the information in said non-volatile memory.
- 10. An electronically tunable tuner for use in a receiver system, said tuner being tunable to any one of a plurality of modulated carrier signals and comprising a local oscillator the oscillating frequency of which is controlled by a phase lock loop having a programmable frequency divider, a microprocessor responsive to an input indicating the selection of a modulated carrier signal to which the tuner should tune for loading said programmable frequency divider with a programmable constant to cause said local oscillator to oscillate at the required frequency to tune to the selected modulated carrier signal, and a non-volatile memory connected to said microprocessor for storing information, said microprocessor being responsive to a user entered lockout code sequence for storing in said non-volatile memory information identifying at least one of said plurality of modulated carrier signals the reception of which is to be inhibited and also for storing in said non-volatile memory said user entered lockout code sequence, timing means, siad microprocessor being responsive to said timing means to thereafter for a predetermined period of time prohibiting the loading of a corresponding programmable constant in said programmable frequency divider whenever a user input indicates the selection of a modulated carrier signal the reception of which is to be inhibited and when said predetermined period of time has expired, said microprocessor erasing the information in said non-volatile memory.
- 19. A method of operating an electronically tuned receiver tunable to any one of a plurality of modulated carrier signals, said receiver being of the type having a tuner local oscillator the oscillating frequency of which is controlled by a phase lock loop having a programmable frequency divider, a microprocessor responsive to a user input indicating the selection of a modulated carrier signal to which the receiver should tune for loading said programmable frequency divider with a programmable constant to cause said local oscillator to oscillate at the required frequency to tune the receiver to the selected modulated carrier signal, and a non-volatile memory connected to said microprocessor for storing information, comprising the steps of programming said microprocessor to respond to a user entered lockout code sequence for storing in said non-volatile memory information identifying at least one specific modulated carrier signal the reception of which is to be inhibited and also for storing in said non-volatile memory the user entered lockout code sequence, programming said microprocessor to measure a predetermined period of time beginning from the time said information and said lockout code sequence is stored in said non-volatile memory to thereafter for said predetermined period of time prohibit the loading of the corresponding programmable constant in said programmable frequency divider whenever the user input indicates said modulated carrier signal, and programming said microprocessor to erase the information in said non-volatile memory when said predetermined period of time has expired.
Specification