Integrated broadcast application with broadcast portion having option display for access to on demand portion

• US 5,805,154 A
• Filed: 12/14/1995
• Issued: 09/08/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Time Warner Entertainment Company LP (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Inventors: Brown, Ralph W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Powell, Mark R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Miller, John W.
• Application Number:
  US08/572,143
• Time in Patent Office: 999 Days
• Field of Search: 348/6, 348/7, 348/12, 348/13, 348/10, 455/3.1, 455/4.1, 455/4.2, 455/5.1, 455/6.1, 455/6.2
• US Class Current: 715/717
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/42 Arrangements for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

An interactive integrated application, having a broadcast portion and an on-demand portion, is provided to a user station via a communication network. The broadcast portion of the application is broadcast over a first channel to a plurality of user stations from an application source. The broadcast portion has an interactive option embedded in it. This interactive option is displayed with the broadcast portion at a user station to provide a viewer at the user station an option to request the on-demand portion of the application. When the viewer at the user station selects the option displayed with the broadcast portion, the user station exercises the option and requests the on-demand portion of the application. An interactive communication session is established between the on-demand portion of the integrated application and the user station exercising the interactive option in the broadcast portion.

Claims

1. A method for providing an interactive integrated application, having a broadcast portion and an on-demand portion, to a user station via a communication network, the method comprising the following steps:

broadcasting the broadcast portion of the application to a plurality of user stations from an application source via a first channel on the communication network, the broadcast portion having an interactive option embedded in the broadcast portion, said option for display with the broadcast portion at a user station to provide the user station an option to request the on-demand portion of the application;

displaying at the user station the interactive option along with the broadcast portion;

establishing via a second channel an interactive communication session between the on-demand portion of the integrated application and a user station in response to the user station exercising the interactive option in the broadcast portion; and

transmitting information between the application source and the user station interactively within the communication session.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the broadcasting step broadcasts the broadcast portion via a first network channel, and the establishing step broadcasts the on-demand portion via a second network channel.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the broadcasting step comprises broadcasting analog information via the first network channel and the interactive option is embedded in a display blanking interval.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the establishing step further comprises the step of transmitting a request from the user station via a third channel.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprises the step of:

downloading to the user station switching instructions with the broadcast portion, said switching instructions identifying the second channel to the user station.

6. Apparatus for delivering a broadcast application across a communication network from a source to a user station;

said broadcast application having a broadcast portion and an on-demand portion, the broadcast portion having an option to be displayed with the broadcast portion, said apparatus comprising;

a network controller for broadcasting the broadcast portion to a plurality of user stations over a broadcast channel;

a user station responsive to the option in the broadcast portion for displaying the option with the broadcast portion;

said user station in response to the option sending a request to the network controller for the on-demand portion of the integrated application; and

said network controller launching the on-demand portion of the integrated application to the user station over an on-demand channel separate from the broadcast channel.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 and in addition:

said broadcast portion includes switching instructions for the user station; and

said user station responsive to the switching instructions to receive the on-demand application over the on-demand channel when the user station requests the on-demand portion of the integrated application.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 and in addition:

said option is an interactive option providing a viewer at the user station with the option of selecting the on-demand portion of the application while the broadcast portion of the application is being displayed.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 and in addition:

said user station in response to selection of the option by the viewer sends the request for the on-demand portion of the application to the network controller.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the on-demand portion has embedded therein further options whereby the viewer is provided with further interactive displays through the on-demand portion of the application.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the integrated application is an advertisement for broadcast to a television set at the user station.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein:

the broadcast portion of the integrated application is the advertisement and the advertisement without option is viewable at user stations not capable of displaying option; and

the option in the broadcast portion and the on-demand portion provide additional advertisement information selectable by the viewer at user stations capable of displaying the option and switching to the on-demand portion of the application.

13. A computer program for executing a computer process, said computer program being storage medium readable by a computing system and encoding a program of instructions for providing an interactive integrated application, having a broadcast portion and an on-demand portion, to a user station via a communication network, said computer process comprising the steps of:

broadcasting the broadcast portion of the application to a plurality of user stations from an application source via a first channel on the communication network, the broadcast portion having an interactive option embedded in the broadcast portion, said option for display with the broadcast portion at a user station to provide the user station an option to request an interactive on-demand portion of the application;

displaying at the user station the broadcast portion and the interactive option; and

establishing via a second channel an interactive communication session between the on-demand portion of the integrated application and a user station in response to the user station exercising the interactive option in the broadcast portion.