Near video-on-demand signal receiver

• US 5,884,141 A
• Filed: 04/11/1997
• Issued: 03/16/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Inoue, Hajime, Kanota, Keiji, Shimazu, Akira, Kubota, Yukio, Nagashima, Toshimichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Flynn, Nathan J.
• Application Number:
  US08/838,619
• Time in Patent Office: 704 Days
• Field of Search: 348/6, 348/7, 348/10, 348/11, 348/12, 348/13, 455/3.1, 455/3.2, 455/4.1, 455/4.2, 455/5.1, 455/6.1, 455/6.2, 380/5, 380/20
• US Class Current: 725/101
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26275 for distributing content or additional data in a staggered manner, e.g. repeating movies on different channels in a time-staggered manner in a near video on demand system
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4333 Processing operations in response to a pause request
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47208 for requesting near-video-on-demand content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47211 for requesting pay-per-view content payment schemes payment architectures or payment protocols G06Q20/00, G07F
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/44 Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards H04N5/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/4448 for frame-grabbing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/16 Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17309 Transmission or handling of upstream communications

Abstract

A video signal receiver receives a plurality of video channels simultaneously carrying, offset by a transmission interval, a single video program, selects one channel from which to obtain the program for display to a user, and achieves a pause function in the display of the transmitted video program by temporarily storing a segment of the video program equal to the length of the transmission interval and obtaining the remainder of the program at a later time from the same or another channel.

Claims

1. A video signal receiver for receiving a plurality of video channels simultaneously carrying a single video program comprised of video signals, each transmission of said video program on one of said channels being offset by a time interval with respect to the transmission of said video program on another one of said channels, comprising:

memory means for receiving video signals for storage and reproducing stored video signals;

preview storage means for storing video signals representing previews of a plurality of video programs and for storing a first segment of each of said plurality of video programs;

channel selecting means, coupled to said memory means, for selecting one of said video channels and for supplying the video signals carried on the one channel to said memory means;

user input means for providing commands from a user; and

control means, coupled to said memory means, said channel selecting means and said user input means,

for controlling said preview storage means, in response to a preview command received from said user input means, to reproduce said video signals representing previews of a plurality of video programs,

for controlling said preview storage means, in response to a select command received from said user input means, to reproduce the first segment of a selected video program which includes a segment end video signal,

for determining a next channel that is next to carry said segment end video signal,

for controlling said channel selecting means to supply the video signals carried on said next channel to said memory means,

for controlling said memory means to store the video signals carried on said next channel as a stored segment, and

for controlling said memory means to reproduce said stored segment after said preview storage means has reproduced said segment end video signal.

2. Receiver according to claim 1, wherein said memory means simultaneously stores the video signals carried on said next channel and reproduces the stored video signals that had been carried on said next channel.