Virtual personal channel in a television system

• US 5,534,911 A
• Filed: 11/02/1994
• Issued: 07/09/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: SF IP Properties 19 LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Gutman Levitan
• Inventors: Levitan, Gutman
• Primary Examiner(s): Kostak, Victor R.
• Application Number:
  US08/333,376
• Time in Patent Office: 615 Days
• Field of Search: 348/1, 348/2, 348/5, 348/6, 348/12, 348/13, 348/906, 348/10, 455/2, 455/5.1
• US Class Current: 725/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/50 Tuning indicators; Automatic tuning control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

An apparatus for providing a customer of a television system with virtual personal channel which being selected delivers a television program of the most personal interest no matter on which channel and at what time the program is physically transmitted. Descriptive and time/channel data of scheduled TV programs are broadcasted through a communication medium from the system headend to customer terminal prior to transmission of programs themselves. In customer terminal all scheduled TV programs are evaluated by a computer that stores customer profile data and controls customer video receiver and video recorder. Whenever customer selects personal channel the computer switches the video receiver to a physical channel on which a program having the best evaluation is transmitted. The best program of the day or the week is recorded and can also be presented as current program of personal channel.

Claims

1. An apparatus for providing a customer of a television system, in addition to regular television channels, with virtual personal channel which being selected for a customer television receiver delivers a television program of the most personal interest automatically chosen among programs concurrently transmitted on all available physical channels of the system, said apparatus comprising:

communication means at a television system headend for broadcasting descriptive and time/channel data of scheduled television programs prior to transmission of the programs, said descriptive and time/channel data formatted for computer analysis;

means at customer end for receiving said descriptive and time/channel data formatted for computer analysis;

means at customer end for storing customer profile data representing customer interests and preferences;

program evaluation means at customer end coupled to said receiving means and to said storing means for processing said formatted descriptive data of scheduled television programs and providing evaluations of the television programs in respect to said customer profile data; and

real-time control means at customer end coupled to said program evaluation means and to said customer television receiver for determining in correspondence with said television program evaluations and said television program time/channel data which of the programs currently scheduled for transmission has the best evaluation and, only when personal channel is selected by the customer, switching the customer television receiver to the channel of the television system on which the program having the best evaluation is scheduled for transmission.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising a video recording means coupled to said real-time control means, said real-time control means determining which of the television programs scheduled for transmission during a specified period of time has the best evaluation, providing automatic recording of the program at the time when the program is transmitted and providing automatic reproducing of the recorded program as the program of personal channel when personal channel is selected and the evaluation of the recorded program is better than evaluation of any program currently scheduled for transmission.