System and method for communicating data and objective code for an interactive video guide system
First Claim
1. An interactive video guide system comprising:
- a first database comprising national television program information for television programs televised nationally;
a second database comprising local television program information for television programs televised locally;
a storage device comprising at least one version of interactive video guide object code;
a combining mechanism which forms a dataset from at least a portion of said national television program information from said first database, at least a portion of said local television program information from said second database, and a subset of said at least one version of interactive video guide object code from said storage device;
a signal former which forms a composite signal from said dataset;
a transmitter which transmits said composite signal;
at least one receiver which receives said composite signal from said transmitter; and
a display driver which generates a signal to drive a video display in which said dataset can appear in the form of an interactive video program guide.
12 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An interactive video guide system is provided in which nationally generic guide data, local guide data, and interactive video guide object code are transmitted to set-top decoder units located in customers'"'"' homes. Initially, nationally generic data or program information from a variety of sources is gathered together via modem at a central processing unit, and then manipulated, parsed and formatted into a national database compatible for use by a head end computer. This information is typically collected and updated on a daily basis. The manipulated nationally generic data is then transferred via modem to a transmitter for uplink to a selected telecommunications satellite. The satellite signal is then received by one or more local satellite CATV head end receivers which then forward a video base band signal carrying the nationally generic data to associated local head end computers. At the local head end computer, the nationally generic data is again manipulated, winnowed, parsed and processed to suit the requirements of the particular local market. Local guide data and interactive video guide object code may then be added to the nationally generic data and then the combined data and object code is transmitted over the CATV system to one or more decoder units in the consumers'"'"' homes.
206 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An interactive video guide system comprising:
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a first database comprising national television program information for television programs televised nationally; a second database comprising local television program information for television programs televised locally; a storage device comprising at least one version of interactive video guide object code; a combining mechanism which forms a dataset from at least a portion of said national television program information from said first database, at least a portion of said local television program information from said second database, and a subset of said at least one version of interactive video guide object code from said storage device; a signal former which forms a composite signal from said dataset; a transmitter which transmits said composite signal; at least one receiver which receives said composite signal from said transmitter; and a display driver which generates a signal to drive a video display in which said dataset can appear in the form of an interactive video program guide. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of generating an interactive video guide display comprising:
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selecting a subset of national television program information from a first database comprising national television program information for television programs televised nationally; selecting a subset of local television program information from a second database comprising local television program information for television programs televised locally; selecting at least one version of interactive video guide object code from a storage device comprising at least one version of interactive video guide object code; combining said subset of said national television program information from said first database, said subset of said local television program information from said second database, and said at least one version of interactive video guide object code from said storage device, to form a dataset; forming a composite signal from said dataset; transmitting said composite signal; receiving said transmitted composite signal; and generating a signal to drive a video display in which said dataset appears in the form of an interactive video program guide. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification