Method and apparatus for video on demand with fast forward, reverse and channel pause
First Claim
1. Apparatus for providing special functions for a user receiving a particular program in a system providing a plurality of programs, at least one group of programs of said plurality of programs comprising the same program source material with staggered starting times offset by respective numbers of time delay increments from a first program of said group, comprising:
- a memory containing a data structure having information identifying how to access each program of said group and containing a pointer to the program of said group which should be decoded for presentation to said user;
a user control apparatus for indicating program selection information and for activating special functions; and
means responsive to an indication from said user control apparatus that the user requires a special function for changing said pointer to point to a program with a different starting time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a video distribution system, methods and apparatus for rapid channel selection are implemented to reduce the channel-to-channel latencies which might otherwise occur in modern video decoding systems, such as MPEG-2. In addition, methods and apparatus are implemented for providing fast forward, fast reverse and channel pause functionality when utilizing staggered start times for a particular program source.
435 Citations
10 Claims
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1. Apparatus for providing special functions for a user receiving a particular program in a system providing a plurality of programs, at least one group of programs of said plurality of programs comprising the same program source material with staggered starting times offset by respective numbers of time delay increments from a first program of said group, comprising:
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a memory containing a data structure having information identifying how to access each program of said group and containing a pointer to the program of said group which should be decoded for presentation to said user; a user control apparatus for indicating program selection information and for activating special functions; and means responsive to an indication from said user control apparatus that the user requires a special function for changing said pointer to point to a program with a different starting time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. Apparatus for providing channel pause for a user receiving a particular program in a system providing a plurality of programs, at least one group of programs of said plurality of programs comprising the same program source material with staggered starting times offset by respective numbers of time delay increments from a first program of said group, comprising:
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a memory containing a data structure having information identifying how to access each program of said group and containing a pointer to the program of said group which should be decoded for presentation to said user; a user control apparatus for indicating program selection information and for activating special functions; means responsive to an indication from said user control apparatus that the user requires channel pause for changing said pointer to point to a program with a different starting time; and means responsive to a first pause indication from said user control apparatus for storing a pause time stamp of the last block of data received prior to receipt of said pause indication and the means for changing said pointer includes means responsive to a second pause indication from said user control apparatus for changing the pointer to point to the first later starting program of said group with a block time stamp earlier than that stored in response to the first pause indication and for delaying resumption of display until the time stamp of the data block being received equals that of the pause time stamp.
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6. Apparatus for providing special functions for a user receiving a particular program in a system providing a plurality of programs in MPEG format, at least one group of programs of said plurality of programs comprising the same program source material with staggered starting times offset by respective numbers of time delay increments from a first program of said group, comprising:
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a memory containing a data structure having MPEG program identification information identifying how to access each program of said group and containing a pointer to a PID of a program of said group which should be decoded for presentation to said user; a user control apparatus for indicating program selection information and for activating special functions; and means responsive to an indication from said user control apparatus that the user requires a special function for changing said pointer to point to a program with a different PID. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification