Subscriber terminal of an interactive communication system and control device thereof

• US 5,875,279 A
• Filed: 04/23/1997
• Issued: 02/23/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Nishijima, Hideo, Ono, Hiroaki, Hosokawa, Kyoichi, Arai, Takao, Okamoto, Hiroo, Owashi, Hitoaki, Amada, Nobutaka, Noguchi, Takaharu
• Primary Examiner(s): Casler, Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): DIN, LUANNE PAN
• Application Number:
  US08/847,772
• Time in Patent Office: 671 Days
• Field of Search: 348/6, 348/7, 348/10, 348/5, 348/460, 386/46, 386/38, 386/83, 360/72.1, 360/72.2, 455/4.2
• US Class Current: 386/248
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00007 Time or data compression or expansion audio compression based on psychoacoustics G10L19/00; data processing for reproducing audio data at different playback speeds G10L21/04; video compression H04N19/00; data compression per se H03M7/30
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42684 Client identification by a unique number or address, e.g. serial number, MAC address, socket ID network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming H04L61/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6543 for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/913 for scrambling ; for copy protection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/9261 involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/16 Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems

Abstract

An input terminal (240) for assigning at least one information to be requested and a control circuit (100) for controlling a recording operation, a tape stopping operation and a detecting operation of a head of recorded information of a recording and reproducing apparatus (80) are provided on the side of a subscriber terminal (FIG. 1) having the recording and reproducing apparatus and, after all of information (A, B, C) assigned by the input terminal and received from an information transmitting station (FIG. 2) are recorded, a head of the first recorded information is detected.

Claims

1. A subscriber terminal for requesting an information transmitting station to transmit information through an interactive communication line and for receiving an information item and a control signal transmitted by said information transmitting station in response to the information request through said interactive communication line or another communication line having a transmission speed higher than that of said interactive communication line, said subscriber terminal comprising:

an input terminal for inputting an information signal designating necessary information for identifying the information item;

a transmitting means for automatically attaching an identification signal identifying the subscriber terminal to the information signal and transmitting the information signal with the identification signal to said information transmitting station;

a recording and reproducing apparatus for receiving and recording the information item transmitted by the information transmitting station; and

a control means for detecting the control signal from the transmitting station and controlling the recording and reproducing apparatus by automatically recording on a tape the information item and by rewinding the tape back to a beginning of the information item after the recording of the information item is terminated.