Program time guide
DCFirst Claim
1. In an interactive viewing system having a head end in two-way communication with a plurality of viewer stations having a video display operatively coupled to a controller, the head end providing to the viewer stations programming comprising a plurality of programs, the head end storing program schedule information identifying for the plurality of programs a time at which the program is available and a channel on which the program is available, the controller of at least one viewer station being capable of storing at least a portion of the program schedule information at the controller, a method of providing a user with program schedule information, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving at a controller a request from a user for program schedule information;
determining whether the requested program schedule information is stored at the controller;
in the case of a negative determination, communicating the request from the controller to the head end; and
retrieving the requested program schedule information from the head endin the case of a positive determination, retrieving the requested program schedule information at the controller; and
displaying a display of the requested program schedule information on a video display.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A program time guide for an interactive viewing system allows a user to control the time and channels for which program information is displayed. The user can navigate through the program time guide to identify and select desired programs. The program time guide displays information for various types and sources of programming by assigning each program source a channel number. Selecting a program on a particular channel causes the system to tune to an associated frequency to receive video signals, launch a computer executed application which generates displayed information, or to perform some other activity associated with that channel or program.
1033 Citations
21 Claims
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1. In an interactive viewing system having a head end in two-way communication with a plurality of viewer stations having a video display operatively coupled to a controller, the head end providing to the viewer stations programming comprising a plurality of programs, the head end storing program schedule information identifying for the plurality of programs a time at which the program is available and a channel on which the program is available, the controller of at least one viewer station being capable of storing at least a portion of the program schedule information at the controller, a method of providing a user with program schedule information, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving at a controller a request from a user for program schedule information; determining whether the requested program schedule information is stored at the controller; in the case of a negative determination, communicating the request from the controller to the head end; and retrieving the requested program schedule information from the head end in the case of a positive determination, retrieving the requested program schedule information at the controller; and displaying a display of the requested program schedule information on a video display. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An interactive system for providing program scheduling information to the user of an interactive program viewing system having a central head end in bidirectional communication with multiple viewer stations that include a video display operably coupled to a controller and an input device for inputting commands to the controller, the head end delivering a plurality of programs at different times over a plurality of channels to the plurality of viewer stations, the system comprising:
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a first memory located at the head end for storing program schedule information, the program schedule information identifying for the plurality of programs a time at which the program is available and a channel on which the program is available; a second memory located at a controller for storing a portion of the program schedule information stored at the head end; the controller operative, in response to a command input through the input device, to generate a display of a selected first portion of the program schedule information on the video display, the selected first portion including program schedule information for at least two of the plurality of programs, the selected first portion being determined by a user of the system, wherein if the selected first portion is not stored in the second memory the controller retrieves the selected first portion from the first memory for display. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. In an interactive viewing system having a head end in two-way communication with multiple viewer stations having a video display operably coupled to a controller and an input device for inputting commands to the controller, the head end delivering a plurality of programs at different times over a plurality of channels to the multiple viewer stations, the system comprising:
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a first memory located at the head end for storing program schedule information said program schedule information identifying for the plurality of programs a time at which the program is available and a channel on which the program is available; and a second memory located at the controller for storing a portion of the program schedule information stored at the head end, the controller operative, in response to a user command input through the input device, to generate a display of program schedule information on the video display, the display comprising; a grid with a plurality of times along a first axis and a plurality of channels along a second axis; a plurality of program tiles, each associated with a program, positioned within the grid at the junction of the time at which the program is available and the channel on which the program is available; and a focus frame indicating a selected program tile, the focus frame being movable in response to commands input through the input device to allow user selection of the times and channels for which program schedule information is displayed, wherein the controller obtains the program schedule information for the display from the first memory if it is not stored in the second memory.
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21. In a controller for an interactive viewing system having a head end in two-way communication with multiple viewer stations having a video display operably coupled to the controller and an input device for inputting commands to the controller, the head end delivering a plurality of programs at different times over a plurality of channels to the multiple viewer stations, the head end comprising a first memory located at the head end for storing program schedule information said program schedule information identifying for the plurality of programs a time at which the program is available and a channel on which the program is available, the system comprising:
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a second memory located at the controller for storing a portion of the program schedule information stored at the head end, the controller operative, in response to a user command input through the input device, to generate a display of program schedule information on the video display, the display comprising; a grid with a plurality of times along a first axis and a plurality of channels along a second axis; a plurality of program tiles, each associated with a program, positioned within the grid at the junction of the time at which the program is available and the channel on which the program is available; and a focus frame indicating a selected program tile, the focus frame being movable in response to commands input through the input device to allow user selection of the times and channels for which program schedule information is displayed, wherein the controller obtains the program schedule information for the display from the first memory if it is not stored in the second memory.
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Specification