Decoder for a pay television system

• US 4,759,060 A
• Filed: 10/31/1985
• Issued: 07/19/1988
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/1984
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kanno, Masayoshi, Hayashi, Toshihide
• Primary Examiner(s): Buczinski, Stephen C.
• Application Number:
  US06/793,554
• Time in Patent Office: 992 Days
• Field of Search: 358/114, 358/115, 358/117, 358/122, 358/123, 358/84, 455/2, 380/16, 380/10, 235/378, 379/131
• US Class Current: 380/234
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0014 for vending, access and use of specific services not covered anywhere else in G07F17/00 meter-controlled dispensing of liquid, gas or electricity G07F15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

A decoder for a pay television system incorporates a receiver for receiving scrambled programming and control data transmitted from a remote location, with the control data including data corresponding to the program fee and the program status, and a manual switch for selectively descrambling the program data when the program status is a pay-per-view program. The decoder has a storage unit for storing a credit value, transmitted from the remote location, and the decoder has timer apparatus for measuring the time during which a pay-per-view program is being received and for subtracting a program fee periodically from the value stored in the storage unit, during the time of reception of the selected program, provided the switch is operated to descramble the program.

Claims

1. A decoder control circuit for a pay television system comprising:

means for descrambling a selected video program transmitted from a center at a remote location;

means for receiving and decoding control data transmitted from said center, said control data including at least program fee data and program status data;

advance money memory for storing money data transmitted from said center; and

control means for subtracting a program fee from the money data stored in said advance money memory upon reception of said selected program;

said control means including a manual switch for selectably allowing descrambling of said program when said program is a pay-per-view program, as represented by pay-per-view status data in said control data; and

said control means including timer means adapted to measure the time during which said program is received, and for controlling said subtraction based on the measure of reception time.

2. The decoder control circuit as claimed in claim 1, including means for activating said timer means when said manual switch is turned on, and for deactivating said scrambling when said manual switch is turned off during the period of reception of a time pay-per-view program.