Interactive digital video services system with store and forward capabilities
First Claim
1. An interactive video services system for enabling a user at a hospitality establishment to access and control presentation of digitized video programs on a television, the system comprising:
- a control unit associated with said television for generating user command signals;
a room terminal electrically connected to said television for formatting and storing said user command signals;
means connected to said room terminal for entering billing information;
a systems control computer (SCS) electrically connected to said room terminal for processing said user command signals;
a property management system connected to said SCS for processing said entered billing information;
a digital video server computer (DVSC) electrically connected to said SCS and to said television for storing a plurality of digitized video programs for presentation on said television;
means connected to said SCS for storing a plurality of advertisements, said SCS further comprising;
means for automatically selecting one of said plurality of advertisements based on historical viewing habits of said user and without additional user input; and
means for initiating presentation of said selected one of said plurality of advertisements on said television on a predetermined channel at a predetermined time or responsive to a queue tone;
wherein said user command signals generated using said control unit comprise select command signals for selecting one of said stored digitized video programs and control command signals for controlling presentation of said selected video program on said television by said DVSC; and
wherein said SCS causes said DVSC to initiate presentation of said selected video program on said television in response to said select signals and controls said presentation of said selected video program on said television by said DVSC in response to said control signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An interactive video services system for enabling store and forward distribution of digitized video programming is disclosed. In accordance with a feature of the present invention, encoded and compressed digital video signals are transmitted via satellite link from a centrally located uplink site to a plurality of hospitality establishments, where the digitized video programming is stored in the memory of a video server computer or is transmitted "real-time" to the hospitality establishment'"'"'s customers. The establishment either has its own downlink facilities or shares downlink facilities with other hospitality establishments. The uplink facility and satellite can transmit a variety of video signals--including video signals for real-time viewing by customers, compressed video signals for storage and subsequent retrieval and viewing by customers, and other types of digitized data, such as advertisements and barker screens. Various signal types, including operating system updates and digitized menus and advertisement graphics for the video programming, are separated and appropriately processed and routed at the hospitality facility.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. An interactive video services system for enabling a user at a hospitality establishment to access and control presentation of digitized video programs on a television, the system comprising:
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a control unit associated with said television for generating user command signals; a room terminal electrically connected to said television for formatting and storing said user command signals; means connected to said room terminal for entering billing information; a systems control computer (SCS) electrically connected to said room terminal for processing said user command signals; a property management system connected to said SCS for processing said entered billing information; a digital video server computer (DVSC) electrically connected to said SCS and to said television for storing a plurality of digitized video programs for presentation on said television; means connected to said SCS for storing a plurality of advertisements, said SCS further comprising; means for automatically selecting one of said plurality of advertisements based on historical viewing habits of said user and without additional user input; and means for initiating presentation of said selected one of said plurality of advertisements on said television on a predetermined channel at a predetermined time or responsive to a queue tone; wherein said user command signals generated using said control unit comprise select command signals for selecting one of said stored digitized video programs and control command signals for controlling presentation of said selected video program on said television by said DVSC; and wherein said SCS causes said DVSC to initiate presentation of said selected video program on said television in response to said select signals and controls said presentation of said selected video program on said television by said DVSC in response to said control signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An interactive video services system for enabling a user at a hospitality establishment to access and control presentation of digitized video programs on a television, the system comprising:
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a control unit associated with said television for generating user command signals; a room terminal electrically connected to said television for formatting and storing said user command signals; means connected to said room terminal for entering billing information; a systems control computer (SCS) electrically connected to said room terminal for processing said user command signals; and a property management system connected to said SCS for processing said entered billing information; a digital video server computer (DVSC) electrically connected to said SCS and to said television for storing a plurality of digitized video programs for presentation on said television; a plurality of integrated receiver decoders (IRDs) connected to receive video data from a video distribution center, said plurality of IRDs being for processing said received video data and for routing said received video data to said SCS, to said DVSC or directly to said television responsive to said processing; wherein said user command signals generated using said control unit comprise select command signals for selecting one of said stored digitized video programs and control command signals for controlling presentation of said selected video program on said television by said DVSC; and wherein said SCS causes said DVSC to initiate presentation of said selected video program on said television in response to said select signals and controls said presentation of said selected video program on said television by said DVSC in response to said control signals. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. An interactive video services system for enabling a user at a hospitality establishment to access and control presentation of digitized video programs on a television, the system comprising:
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a control unit associated with said television for generating user command signals; a room terminal electrically connected to said television for formatting and storing said user command signals; means connected to said room terminal for entering billing information; a systems control computer (SCS) electrically connected to said room terminal for processing said user command signals; means connected to said SCS for storing a plurality of advertisements; a property management system connected to said SCS for processing said entered billing information;
,a digital video server computer (DVSC) electrically connected to said SCS and to said television for storing a plurality of digitized video programs for presentation on said television; means for monitoring broadcast programming on a predetermined channel for a queue tone; and means for initiating presentation on said television of a selected one of said plurality of advertisements on said predetermined channel in place of said broadcast programming responsive to detection of said queue tone; wherein said user command signals generated using said control unit comprise select command signals for selecting one of said stored digitized video programs and control command signals for controlling presentation of said selected video program on said television by said DVSC; and wherein said SCS causes said DVSC to initiate presentation of said selected video program on said television in response to said select signals and controls said presentation of said selected video program on said television by said DVSC in response to said control signals.
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13. A method for enabling a user at a hospitality establishment to access and control presentation of digitized video programs on a television located at the hospitality establishment, the method comprising:
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storing a plurality of digitized video programs in a digital video server computer (DVSC) at said hospitality establishment; entering billing information; processing said entered billing information for charge of said video programs to said user; selecting one of said stored digitized video programs for presentation on said television; presenting said selected digitized video program on said television;
transmitting presentation control signals to said DVSC to control presentation of said selected digitized video program on said television;storing a plurality of advertisements; selecting one of said plurality of advertisements based on historical viewing habits of said user and without further involvement by said user; and initiating presentation on said television of said selected one of said plurality of advertisements on a predetermined channel at a predetermined time or responsive to a queue tone. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. An interactive video services system for enabling a user at a hospitality establishment to access and control presentation of digitized video programs on a television, the system comprising:
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a control unit associated with said television for generating user command signals including a signal for initiating a bookmark operation; a room terminal electrically connected to said television for formatting and storing said user command signals; means connected to said room terminal for entering billing information; a systems control computer (SCS) electrically connected to said room terminal for processing said user command signals; a property management system connected to said SCS for processing said entered billing information; a digital video server computer (DVSC) electrically connected to said SCS and to said television for storing a plurality of digitized video programs for presentation on said television; wherein said user command signals generated using said control unit comprise select command signals for selecting one of said stored digitized video programs and control command signals for controlling presentation of said selected video program on said television by said DVSC; and wherein said SCS causes said DVSC to initiate presentation of said selected video program on said television in response to said select signals and controls said presentation of said selected video program on said television by said DVSC in response to said control signals.
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Specification