System and method for identifying a television program

• US 5,404,160 A
• Filed: 06/24/1993
• Issued: 04/04/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Berkeley Varitronics Systems
• Original Assignee: Berkeley Varitronics Systems
• Inventors: Chadwick, Raymond B., Schober, Gary W., Ashley, Francis R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Groody, James J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Metjahic, Safet
• Application Number:
  US08/081,842
• Time in Patent Office: 649 Days
• Field of Search: 358/84, 358/142, 358/139, 358/10, 358/185, 358/86, 455/2
• US Class Current: 725/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/372 Programme
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/377 Scene
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/59 of video recognising characters or patterns in general G06F18/00, G06V20/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/08 Systems for the simultaneous or sequential transmission of more than one television signal, e.g. additional information signals, the signals occupying wholly or partially the same frequency band , e.g. by time division H04N7/007 takes precedence

Abstract

The disclosure is of a system and method of detecting or identifying a received TV program by forming a database of identifying digital bits for a plurality of programs, processing a TV program by modulating the luminance of pairs of lines of the program and reconstituting the program with said modulated line pairs and the other components of a TV program signal. The reconstituted program is transmitted to a location at which it is decoded to recover the digital identifying bits and comparing such bits with bits in the database to identify the transmitted program.

Claims

1. A method of identifying a TV program transmission comprising the steps of

generating a plurality of groups of digital identifying (ID) bits, each group representing a TV program, and storing said group of identifying digital bits in a database,

receiving a TV program transmission comprising a plurality of fields of information including picture information disposed in individual lines, a plurality of adjacent lines of each field having the luminance thereof modulated in amplitude, one line of luminance being brightened and the other line of luminance being darkened, the modulation process including the combining of said digital ID bits from one of said groups with code digital bits,

reconstituting said TV program with said pairs of lines of modulated luminance,

transmitting said reconstituted TV program to a TV set,

extracting said TV program from said TV set,

extracting said pairs of lines of modulated luminance therefrom,

extracting said digital ID bits from said pairs of lines of modulated luminance, and

comparing said plurality of digital ID bits with said groups of digital ID bits in said database to find a match and to thereby identify said TV program.

2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said TV set includes a picture tube and said step of extracting said TV program comprises placing a wire adjacent to the picture tube of said TV set, said wire extracting the TV program signal electrostatically from said picture tube.

3. A method of identifying a TV program comprising the steps of

forming a database of a plurality of TV programs, each program being represented in the database by a group of digital identifying ID bits,

forming a group of digital code bits,

receiving a TV program transmission comprising a plurality of fields of information including picture information,

processing a plurality of pairs of adjacent lines of a field by modulating the luminance of each line using one of said digital ID bits and a different digital code bit for each pair of lines of a field,

repeating said processing step for each field of a TV program using a different digital ID bit for each field,

reconstituting said TV program with said lines of modulated luminance,

transmitting said reconstituted TV program to a TV set,

extracting said TV program from said TV set,

processing the pairs of lines of each field of said TV program to extract the digital ID bits from each of the same pairs of lines which had been originally modulated, and

comparing the extracted digital ID bits with digital ID bits in said database to determine the identity of the TV program.

4. The method defined in claim 3 wherein in said step of processing a plurality of pairs of adjacent lines, (1) the first of said digital ID bits and the first code bit from a code bit generator are combined for the first and second lines of the first pair of lines, (2) the first of said digital ID bits and a second bit from said code generator are combined for the second pair of lines, (3) the first digital ID bit and a third bit from said code generator are combined for the third pair of lines and so forth until a plurality of pairs of lines of the first field are processed and

repeating said processing of pairs of lines for successive fields using the same digital bit for each pair of lines of the field with a different bit from said code generator for each pair of lines.

5. The method defined in claim 4 wherein line pairs of forty fields of a TV program transmission are processed, with each pair of lines in a field processed by the combination of the same digital ID bit with a different bit from said code generator, the bits from the code generator being different for each pair of lines in a field but the same for the corresponding pairs of lines of forty each field.

6. The method defined in claim 5 wherein 120 line pairs are processed for each of said forty fields.

7. The method defined in claim 5 wherein 120 line pairs are processed for each of said forty fields and the digital identifying ID bits are forty in number and the code bits from said code generator are 120 in number, one for each line pair.

8. The method defined in claim 4 wherein said line pairs are made up of adjacent lines in a field.

9. A method of identifying a TV program transmission comprising the steps of

receiving a known TV program transmission,

encoding pairs of lines of luminance information of fields of said known TV program with a selected code system by alternately brightening and darkening said pairs of lines,

reconstituting said TV program with said encoded pairs of lines included,

transmitting said reconstituted TV program to a TV set,

extracting said reconstituted TV program from said TV set,

extracting said encoded pairs of lines from said reconsituted TV program,

processing said encoded pairs of lines with said code system to extract digital ID bits therefrom and

reading said extracted digital ID bits to determine therefrom the identity of said TV program transmission.

10. A system for identifying a TV program transmission comprising

a computer including a database made up of groups of digital ID bits, each group of digital ID bits identifying a specific TV program,

an encoder system including means for encoding the luminance of pairs of lines of a plurality of fields of a TV program transmission, in each pair the luminance of one line being increased and the luminance of the other line being decreased, the luminance change for each line being controlled by one of said digital ID bits and a code bit,

first means receiving said encoded pairs of lines and reconstituting the original TV program transmission with said encoded pairs of lines included,

second means receiving said reconstituted TV program,

third means extracting said encoded pairs of lines and further extracting said code bit therefrom and

fourth means in said computer reading said extracted code to determine the identity of said TV program transmission.

11. The system defined in claim 10 wherein said means for encoding processes a plurality of pairs of lines of a field of said TV program transmission.

12. The system defined in claim 10 wherein said means for encoding processes a plurality of pairs of lines of a plurality of fields.

13. The system defined in claim 12 wherein said means for encoding processes a plurality of pairs of lines of each field of said TV program.

14. Apparatus for extracting a complete TV program signal from a TV picture tube comprising

a TV set and a picture tube associated therewith,

said picture tube having a rear end at the rear of said TV set,

a length of wire disposed at to said rear end of said picture tube, and

electronic circuitry coupled to said length of wire for processing the TV program signal coupled electrostatically from said picture tube to said wire.

15. The apparatus described in claim 14 wherein said electronic circuitry includes filtering and amplifying means.

16. The apparatus defined in claim 14 and including a piece of insulating board,

said length of wire being secured to said board,

said electronic circuitry mounted on one surface of said board, and

a metal ground plate secured to the surface of said board opposite said electronic circuitry.

17. The apparatus defined in claim 16 and including a shielded cable coupled to said electronic circuitry to couple a tv transmission therefrom.

18. A system for identifying a TV program including

a computer containing a series of identifying (ID) digital bits for identifying a TV program,

a code generator for generating a series of digital bits known as code bits equal in number to the number of lines in a field of information in a TV program transmission,

an antenna receiving a TV program transmission including fields of scan lines containing luminance information and horizontal and vertical sync signals,

a first circuit receiving said TV program and including circuit means for extracting the horizontal and vertical sync signals and the lines of luminance information,

a multiplexer circuit,

a luminance-increasing circuit coupled to said multiplexer circuit and a luminance-decreasing circuit coupled to said multiplexer circuit,

a differential encoder receiving an ID bit and a code bit for each line of luminance present at said multiplexer and combining these two bits to provide a control signal to said multiplexer, said control signal determining which of said luminance-increasing or luminance-decreasing circuits operates to increase or decrease the luminance of a line of information, said multiplexer processing the lines of a field in pairs with one line being increased in luminance and the other line being decreased in luminance,

said multiplexer having an output at which appears pairs of lines one line of a pair having increased luminance and the other line of a pair having decreased luminance,

storage means coupled to the output of said multiplexer for storing each pair of luminance lines output from said multiplexer to form fields of the original TV program but with each pair of lines increased or decreased in luminance, the entire original TV program being reconstituted in said storage means,

a decoder circuit for receiving said reconstituted TV program made up of fields of pairs of lines one line having increased luminance and the other line having decreased luminance, said decoder circuit including

an integrator circuit receiving each line of a pair of lines of a field of lines and integrating the luminance signal of each line to form an analog signal for each line,

a differential amplifier receiving the analog luminance signals of the lines in a pair of lines and providing an output signal which is the difference between the analog values of the two lines of a pair, and

means comparing all of the analog values of a field of information with code information in a computer to give each field a digital value of "1" or "0".

19. The system defined in claim 18 wherein the digital values of "1" or "0" for a plurality of fields identify of a TV program.

20. The system defined in claim 18 and a one field delay circuit disposed in the electrical path which transmits luminance lines to said multiplexer.

21. The system defined in claim 18 and including in said decoder a one field delay circuit in series with one imput terminal of said differential amplifier.

22. A television program identifying system comprising

a computer containing a plurality of digital identifying (ID)bits coupled to an interface circuit,

a composite television program signal including a luminance portion and horizontal (Hsync) and vertical (Vsync) synchronizing signals,

a signal separator module receiving said composite television signal,

a first output terminal from said signal separator module from which the Hsync signal appears, a second output terminal from which said Vsync signal appears and a third output terminal from which said luminance signal appears,

said luminance signal being coupled through a max 454 module to an input of an analog multiplexer,

a differential encoder comprising a plurality of gates and a 74HC174 module, a lead from said code generator carrying a digital code bit to one input of said gates and a lead from said computer interface carrying an ID bit to another input of said gates, the output of said gates comprising a D@Chip signal coupled to said analog multiplexer,

a code generator for generating 120 digital bits for each field of TV transmission, said code generator including a 74HC374 module coupled to two 74HC157 modules connected in parallel, a connection from said Vsync terminal to said 74 HC374 and said 74HC157 modules to reset said code generator at the beginning of a field of TV transmission and a connection from said two 74HC157 modules to couple a digital code bit to one input of said differential encoder,

an encode signal coupled from said differential encoder to an input of said analog multiplexer, and

a first amplifier coupled to said analog multiplexer for increasing the luminance of a line of luminance coupled thereto and a second amplifier coupled to said analog multiplexer for reducing the luminance of a line of luminance coupled increase of thereto, the and decrease luminance being controlled by said D@Chip signal coupled to said analog multiplexer.

23. A television program identification system including

a tv transmission made up of fields of scan lines of composite television signals including a luminance signal and horizontal sync signals and vertical sync signals, the lines of each field having their luminance coded in pairs with one line of a pair having its luminance increased and the other line of the pair having its luminance decreased,

a tv set receiving said tv transmission and having a picture tube having a rear end at the rear of the tv set,

an electrostatic pickup wire at the rear of said picture tube where it can extract the entire tv transmission signal as it is being watched on said tv set,

means coupling the scan lines of the fields of said tv transmission to a first circuit module, said first circuit module separating the lines of the fields of said tv transmission into luminance signal, the Hsync signal and the Vsync signal,

second means coupling the luminance signal of each line of a pair of lines to an integrating capacitor across which the luminance is integrated and then fed to a sample and hold amplifier, one luminance signal of a pair, called an A signal, being held in one of said sample and hold amplifiers and the other luminance signal of a pair, called a B signal, being held in the other sample and hold amplifier,

a differential amplifier having a first input which receives said A signal and a second input which receives said B signal and an output,

an offset and comparison threshold circuit made up of a plurality of amplifiers the output of which is a digital "1" or "0" signal depending on the sign of the difference between signal A and signal B,

a multiplexer module operable as a channel selector, the digital output of said offset and threshold comparison circuit being coupled to one input of said multiplexer module,

a channel separator module comprising a counter and coupling outputs of channel A and channel B to inputs of said multiplexer,

a module having one input which receives the output of said multiplexer module a plurality of other inputs which receive the output of a code generator which generates a series of 120 digital codes,

a digital to analog converter coupled to the outputs of said digital correlator,

a parallel amplifier arrangment receiving the ouput of said digital to analog converter and providing either a digital "1" or a digital "0" as test points,

the D6 output of the digital correlator U74 is also coupled to circuit means for generating data bits including a pair of multivibrators and a series of gates the output of which is a digital "1" or a digital "0", and

means comparing a 120 bits with ID bits in a computer to identify a tv program.

24. A system for identifying a TV program transmission comprising

a computer including a database made up of groups of digital identifying CID) bits, each group of digital ID bits identifying a specific TV program,

an encoder system including means for encoding the luminance of pairs of lines of a plurality of fields of a TV program transmission the encoding comprising modying the luminanceof a line, in each pair the luminance of one line being increased and the luminance of the other line being decreased, the luminance change for each line being controlled and determined by one of said digital ID bits and a code bit,

a code generator generating said code bit, said code generator being programmed to generate a series of random digital code bits, with one code bit being provided for each line of a tv field, and

circuit means combining each code bit with the same ID bit for all of the lines in one tv field,

the signal produced by the combination of an ID bit and a code bit determining whether the luminance of the first line of a pair of lines is increased and the luminance of the second line is reduced or whether the luminance of the first line of a pair is reduced and the luminance of the second line of a pair is increased.

25. The system defined in claim 24 wherein each ID bit and its code bit are exclusive ORed in said circuit means to thereby produce a control signal therefrom.

26. The system defined in claim 24 wherein said circuit means is a differential encoder which receives an ID bit and a code bit and generates therefrom a control signal, and

a multiplexer circuit which receives (1) the luminance portion of each line of a field, (2) means for increasing the brightness of the luminance of a line, (3) means for decreasing the luminance of a line and (4) a control signal formed from an ID bit and a code bit, the control signal operating in said multiplexer to control whether a particular line has its luminance increased or decreased.

27. The system defined in claim 26 wherein there are 120 pairs of lines in a field of a tv transmission.

28. The system defined in claim 27 wherein said code generator generates 120 digital code bits.