Interactive home information system for distributing compressed television programming
First Claim
1. A system for transmitting video picture information to home televisions coupled to a cable television distribution system, comprising:
- means for distributing compressed video picture information over said cable television distribution system in channel space unoccupied by non-compressed television programming; and
at least one node coupled to said cable television distribution system and associated with a portion of said home televisions coupled to said cable television distribution system for decompressing, in real time, said compressed video picture information transmitted over said cable television distribution system, said decompressed video picture information being distributed, upon demand, to subscribers of said cable television distribution system viewing said home televisions associated with said node, said decompressed video picture information including full-motion video information;
wherein the subscriber viewing one of said home televisions can communicate, to said node associated therewith, a request for selected video picture information which has been decompressed at the associated node, the associated node including;
(i) means for dynamically assigning one of a plurality of channels to said subscriber requesting said selected video picture information; and
(ii) means for transmitting said selected video picture information to said home television of the requesting subscriber over the assigned channel.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An interactive multimedia system with distributed processing and storage of video picture information and associated data and sound in nodes disposed throughout a cable television distribution system. The nodes are coupled to the feeder cable of the cable distribution system. Each node in the system receives a substantially identical copy of the interactive video picture information and related data from a regional processing center. The users at home televisions associated with a particular node interact directly with the video picture information in that node, rather than with the information stored in the regional processing center or some other remote location, which enables the system to quickly display photographic quality images and complex graphics, as well as sound, at the users'"'"' televisions in response to commands received by the users. The nodes can also be used for decompressing compressed television programming and distributing the decompressed programming to home televisions connected to the system.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system for transmitting video picture information to home televisions coupled to a cable television distribution system, comprising:
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means for distributing compressed video picture information over said cable television distribution system in channel space unoccupied by non-compressed television programming; and at least one node coupled to said cable television distribution system and associated with a portion of said home televisions coupled to said cable television distribution system for decompressing, in real time, said compressed video picture information transmitted over said cable television distribution system, said decompressed video picture information being distributed, upon demand, to subscribers of said cable television distribution system viewing said home televisions associated with said node, said decompressed video picture information including full-motion video information; wherein the subscriber viewing one of said home televisions can communicate, to said node associated therewith, a request for selected video picture information which has been decompressed at the associated node, the associated node including; (i) means for dynamically assigning one of a plurality of channels to said subscriber requesting said selected video picture information; and (ii) means for transmitting said selected video picture information to said home television of the requesting subscriber over the assigned channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for transmitting video picture information to home televisions coupled to a cable television distribution system, comprising:
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a regional processing center for assembling and processing said video picture information to be transmitted over said cable television distribution system; a headend for distributing cable television programming to subscribers of said cable television distribution system; and at least one node coupled to said cable television distribution system and associated with a portion of said home televisions coupled to said cable television system for capturing and storing said processed and assembled video picture information, said video picture information including both still frame and full-motion video information; wherein the subscriber viewing one of said home televisions can display and interact with said video picture information stored in the associated node by communicating to the associated node, each of said nodes in said cable television distribution system containing a substantially complete copy of said video picture information which said subscriber associated with said node can display and interact with such that the subscriber interacts directly with said video picture information stored in the associated node, without accessing said video picture information stored in said regional processing center; wherein each of said home televisions includes an associated home interface controller with means for receiving at least one of a plurality of channels transmitted by the associated node, said home interface controller, upon activation, being assigned a channel from the associated node to said home interface controller over aid assigned channel; and wherein said home interface controller includes frame grabber circuitry for storing frames of video picture information from the associated node, such that said channel from the associated node is assigned to said home interface controller only when video picture information is being transmitted from the associated node to said home interface controller, said channel being released for transmission of video picture information to other home interface controllers at all other times. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A method for transmitting video picture information to home televisions coupled to a cable television distribution system, comprising the steps of:
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distributing compressed video picture information over said cable television distribution system in channel space unoccupied by non-compressed television programming; decompressing said compressed video picture information transmitted over said cable television distribution system, in real time, in at least one node coupled to said cable television distribution system and associated with a portion of said home televisions coupled to said cable television distribution system; and
,distributing said decompressed video picture information, upon demand, to subscribers of said cable television distribution system viewing said home televisions associated with said node, said decompressed video picture information including full-motion video information; wherein the subscriber viewing one of said home televisions can communicate, to said node associated therewith, a request for selected video picture information which has been decompressed at the associated node, the associated node distributing said selected video picture information to the subscriber by; (i) dynamically assigning one of a plurality of channels to the subscriber requesting said selected video picture information; and (ii) transmitting said selected video picture information to said home television of the requesting subscriber over the assigned channel. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification