Electronic television program guide with selective updating
First Claim
1. A video signal receiving device comprising:
- a tuning system capable of tuning to predetermined frequency channels and converting radio frequency signals received on said predetermined frequency channels into video signals;
a decoder for receiving said video signals from said tuning system, said video signals comprising a program guide;
a microprocessor for controlling said tuning system and said decoder; and
a memory coupled to said microprocessor, said memory operative for storing a programmed subset of said predetermined frequency channels and a portion of said program guide, said portion of said program guide being related to said programmed subset of said predetermined frequency channels;
wherein said microprocessor is programmed to repeatedly compare said portion of said program guide stored in said memory with a corresponding portion of said program guide contained in said video signals and received subsequent to storing of said portion of said program guide in said memory.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and device for receiving and storing an electronic television (TV) program guide. In a satellite, cable or broadcast TV system, electronic TV program guides may be coded into the video signals received by the TV receiver. Many currently available TV receivers also allow users to program a list of "select-channels." When the receiver is in its select-channel mode, the receiver only tunes to the channels the user stored in the list of select channels. The present invention limits the memory and processing power required to store an electronic TV program guide by only storing program guide information associated with the channels stored by the user in connection with the select-channels function of the receiver. In receivers having a second tuner, the second tuner may be used to automatically update the stored program guide.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A video signal receiving device comprising:
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a tuning system capable of tuning to predetermined frequency channels and converting radio frequency signals received on said predetermined frequency channels into video signals; a decoder for receiving said video signals from said tuning system, said video signals comprising a program guide; a microprocessor for controlling said tuning system and said decoder; and a memory coupled to said microprocessor, said memory operative for storing a programmed subset of said predetermined frequency channels and a portion of said program guide, said portion of said program guide being related to said programmed subset of said predetermined frequency channels; wherein said microprocessor is programmed to repeatedly compare said portion of said program guide stored in said memory with a corresponding portion of said program guide contained in said video signals and received subsequent to storing of said portion of said program guide in said memory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of generating a program guide in a video signal receiving device, said method comprising of the steps:
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tuning to predetermined frequency channels and converting radio frequency signals received on the predetermined frequency channels to video signals, said video signals comprising said program guide; decoding said video signals so as to extract said program guide; storing a programmed subset of said predetermined frequency channels and a portion of said program guide in memory, said portion of said program guide being related to said programmed subset of said predetermined frequency channels; and repeatedly comparing said portion of said program guide stored in said memory with a corresponding portion of said program guide contained in said video signals and received subsequent to storing of said portion of said program guide in said memory. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of generating a program guide, said method comprising the steps of:
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defining a plurality of favorite channels, and storing a list of said favorite channels in memory; generating a database for storing program guide information associated with each of said favorite channels; selecting a channel for viewing; determining if said selected channel is one of said favorite channels; if said selected channel is one of said favorite channels and said program information associated with said selected favorite channel is current, said program information associated with said selected favorite channel is displayed, if said selected channel is one of said favorite channels and said program information associated with said selected favorite channel is not current, said program information associated with said selected favorite channel is updated and then displayed. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A computer program stored onto a recordable medium for execution in a computer system for automatically controlling presentations of an electronic program guide for at least one user viewing video delivered to a computer display, said program comprising the steps of:
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generating a database comprising data representing said electronic program guide and representing said user'"'"'s favorite video channels; determining if a currently selected channel is one of the favorite channels identified in said database; capturing data from a video decoder if said selected channel is not a favorite channel, said data representing the program guide associated with said selected channel, making said data available for display; if said selected channel is one of said favorite channels and said program guide information associated with said selected channel is current, said program information associated with said favorite channel is displayed, and if said selected channel is one of said favorite channels and said program information associated with said selected channel is not current, said program information associated with said favorite channel is captured from said video decoder, stored in said database and displayed.
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Specification