Cable television system selectively distributing pre-recorded video and audio messages

• US 4,941,040 A
• Filed: 02/10/1988
• Issued: 07/10/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/1985
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TVWorks LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Cableshare, Inc. (Source Media LLC)
• Inventors: Hart, George M., Pocock, Terrence H., McNorgan, Richard M., Coumans, Peter J. M.
• Primary Examiner(s): NOT, DEFINED
• Application Number:
  US07/154,386
• Time in Patent Office: 881 Days
• Field of Search: 358/84, 358/86, 358/146, 455/2, 455/4, 455/5
• US Class Current: 725/116
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/04 characterised by modifying the teaching programme in response to a wrong answer, e.g. repeating the question, supplying a further explanation
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/79 using downlink of the CATV systems, e.g. audio broadcast via CATV network
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/70 characterised in that receivers can be addressed
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/15 on receiving information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00098 via a television channel, e.g. for a series of still pictures with or without sound
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2179 Interfaces allowing access to a plurality of users, e.g. connection to electronic image libraries
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2007/1739 the upstream communication being transmitted via a separate link, e.g. telephone line
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3264 of sound signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17354 in an intermediate station common to a plurality of user terminals

Abstract

A method of, and a system for, selectively delivering still television video with accompanying audio to home subscribers over a cable television system for advertising, promotional or educational purposes. A maximum number of home subscribers can interactively request presentations of their own choosing to be displayed on their home television sets. Only one standard television channel is required for transmission of still video with accompanying audio to serve 300 concurrent users. No equipment is required in the subscriber'"'"'s home. The video is presented as still frames from one of a number of videodisc players, transmitted over one television channel during the appropriate time interval of 1/30th (or 1/25th) of a second. Such video frames, which may also contain overlaid graphics information, are uniquely addressed to a remote storage device. Unused bandwidth is used for the transmission of up to 300 discrete audio messages. The remote storage device identifies the appropriate video still frame, stores it, combines it with the corresponding audio message and conveys both to the home subscribers'"'"'television on a pre-selected channel. By uniquely addressing video frames to the remote storage device, either 30 (or 25) different video frames per second can be conveyed on one television channel to 30 (or 25) different remote storage devices for retransmission to home subscribers. Thus, if a home subscriber sees a given still video frame for 10 seconds, his remote storage device need not be updated for those 10 seconds, enabling the system to transmit 300 (10 seconds×30/second) different video frames to 300 other remote storage devices, thereby serving 300 concurrent users.

Claims

1. In a television system of the type in which video information is transmitted on a primary communication link to a node, and disseminated to subscribers via secondary paths from the node to subscribers'"'"' receivers, apparatus for providing different individual video presentations to different respective subscribers, comprising:

a plurality of video storage devices for storing various video presentations;

means responsive to subscriber-initiated request for selecting individual presentations stored in the storage devices and encoding each selected presentation with an address associated with a subscriber;

means for assembling the presentations selected by different subscribers into a video signal and transmitting the video signal on said primary link;

means at said node for receiving the video signal transmitted over said primary link and storing selected presentations encoded with predetermined addresses; and

means at said node for repetitively transmitting the stored presentations at a standard video signal rate via a single television channel but over different respective secondary paths so that all subscribers connected to said node can each view their respective presentations by tuning television receivers to said television channel.

2. The television system of claim 1 wherein said video signal is transmitted over said primary link on said television channel.

3. The television system of claim 2 wherein said receiving means is capable of receiving television signals transmitted over a number of different channels and passing them onto the secondary paths, and includes a channel blocker for preventing signals transmitted on said primary link over said single channel from being passed onto said secondary paths and a modulator for transmitting a stored message over said single television channel on the secondary paths.

4. The television system of claim 1 wherein each video presentation comprises a single video frame, and plural video frames which are addressed to different respective subscribers are combined in succession to form said video signal.

5. The television system of claim 1 wherein each video presentation comprises a single video field, and plural video fields which are addressed to different respective subscribers are combined in succession to form said video signal.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least two subscribers are connected to the same secondary path and share said path for viewing presentations transmitted over said television channel.

7. A method of distributing different pre-recorded video frames to different respective viewers via a common video transmission system, comprising the steps of:

selecting a primary path within said system for transmission of video frames, and plural secondary paths from a node on said primary path to different respective subscribers'"'"' television receivers;

assigning an address to each secondary path;

inserting upon a predetermined scan line of a vertical blanking interval of each frame the address of a secondary path associated with a subscriber who is designated to view that frame;

transmitting the video frames with the addresses along the primary path;

examining the predetermined scan line of the video frames at said node;

storing video frames at said node when the addresses of the video frames match the addresses of the respective secondary paths connected to said node; and

repetitively transmitting the stored video frames from said node at a standard television frame rate over a predetermined television channel along the respective secondary paths to the subscribers'"'"' television receivers as still video frames so that the subscribers can each view respective desired frames by tuning their receivers to said predetermined television channel.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein said video frames are transmitted along the primary path on said television channel.

9. The method of claim 7 further including the step of transmitting plural audio signals respectively associated with predetermined addressed video frames.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said audio signals are transmitted over telephone lines.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein said audio signals are transmitted along said primary path as audio frames each having the format of a video frame.

12. In a communication system of the type in which video information is transmitted on a primary communication link for dissemination to subscribers by means of a plurality of secondary paths from the primary link to subscriber television receivers, apparatus for providing individual video messages to the subscribers, comprising:

means for storing a plurality of individual video messages;

means responsive to subscriber-initiated requests for selecting designated ones of said video messages, encoding the selected messages with addresses associated with respective subscribers, and transmitting the encoded messages on said primary link;

a plurality of means respectively located at junctions of said primary link and said secondary paths for receiving video information transmitted over said primary link, each of said receiving means being responsive to an address associated with that receiving means to store a selected message; and

means for transmitting the stored messages along respective ones of said secondary paths over the same transmission channel to all of said television receivers for viewing by the respective subscribers who initiated the requests.