Mapping method for impulse pay per view system
First Claim
1. In a system including subscribers with one-way addressable access terminal units, a method for processing calling line data messages received from a telephone company serving subscribers, said calling line data messages representing subscriber requests for pay per view service, each of said calling line data messages including a subsriber'"'"'s telephone number and selection data determined by a subscriber to choose a pay per view event, the method comprising the steps of:
- compressing said calling line data messages;
thenelectronically mapping the telephone number portions of said calling line data messages into address codes for the access terminal units, including reorganizing at least a portion of the subscriber telephone number by reading a look-up table for a first portion of said telephone number to provide a first binary number, converting a second portion of said telephone number into a second binary number, and combining said first and second binary numbers; and
electronically mapping the selection data portions of said calling line data messages into authorization codes for said access terminal units representative of said pay per view events.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An IPPV technique is provided for a cable system having one-way addressable converters. Each of several central offices in a metropolitan area will provide ANI information representing the cable subscriber'"'"'s phone number and a code representing the cable event to be viewed or cancelled. The data is sent asynchronously to a respective telephone communication unit located at the central office. This telephone communication unit (TCU) does some buffering, eliminates unnecessary data, and sends data synchronously to a telephone communication controller (TCC) located at the cable headend station. The TCC will acknowledge the data. There will be several TCCs located at the cable headend station corresponding to the several central offices who may give telephone service to the cable operator'"'"'s subscribers. All of these TCCs at the headend station are coupled through a multiplexer to a system controller. Each TCC provides intermediate processing which converts the subscriber'"'"'s telephone number into binary. The multiplexer provides buffering, flow control, and arbitration among various TCCs. The multiplexer adapts to data flow conditions. The system controller receives data from each subscriber, locates a corresponding home terminal unit address, examines the password and other information, and maps the two digit program identification which was entered by the subscriber into an authorization code. It then authorizes the home terminal units in accordance with the IPPV requests by transmitting the subscriber'"'"'s cable address and a new authorization code in the vertical blanking interval, generates the commercial transaction, and downloads the transaction to a billing system.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. In a system including subscribers with one-way addressable access terminal units, a method for processing calling line data messages received from a telephone company serving subscribers, said calling line data messages representing subscriber requests for pay per view service, each of said calling line data messages including a subsriber'"'"'s telephone number and selection data determined by a subscriber to choose a pay per view event, the method comprising the steps of:
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compressing said calling line data messages;
thenelectronically mapping the telephone number portions of said calling line data messages into address codes for the access terminal units, including reorganizing at least a portion of the subscriber telephone number by reading a look-up table for a first portion of said telephone number to provide a first binary number, converting a second portion of said telephone number into a second binary number, and combining said first and second binary numbers; and electronically mapping the selection data portions of said calling line data messages into authorization codes for said access terminal units representative of said pay per view events. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. In a system including subscribers with one-way access terminal units, a method for processing calling line data messages received from a telephone company serving subscribers, said calling line data messages representing subscriber requests for pay per view service, each of said calling line messages including a subscriber'"'"'s telephone number and selection data determined by a subscriber to choose a pay per view event, the method comprising the steps of processing each of said calling line data messages to form:
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a first number group comprising four digits of the telephone number; a second number group comprising three other digits of the telephone number; a third number group comprising the area code of the telephone number; and a fourth number group comprising the selection data and electronically mapping said four number groups into address codes and authorization codes for said access terminal units, so that said units can be addressed and authorized to permit said pay per view event to be exhibited. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. In a system including subscribers with one-way addressable access terminal units, a method for processing calling line data messages received from a telephone company serving the subscribers, said calling line data messages representing subscriber requests for pay-per-view service, each of said calling line data messages including the subscriber'"'"'s telephone number and selection data determined by a subscriber to choose a pay per view event, said subscriber telephone number including an area code, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving said calling line data messages and compressing and converting the subscriber'"'"'s telephone numbers and selection data into a binary form, including converting the area code of said subscriber telephone number into a binary number having a relatively small number of bits by using a look-up table and thereafter applying said binary form data to a system controller; electronically mapping said binary form telephone numbers into address codes for said subscribers at a system controller; and electronically mapping said selection data in binary form into codes for said access terminal units. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification